"Chip and Signature cards do not substantially alter the paradigm you mention in your question. The chip alters how the machine obtains your account number and transmits it for authentication, but it does not significantly alter the interaction with the clerk.  It is solely intended to reduce ""skimming"" and similar card-number-stealing and card-forging attacks. Specifically, a clerk is still welcome to ask to see the card to verify the signature if they wish, and/or to ask to see an ID to use the card.  Some changes occurred around the same time as introducing Chip and Signature that meant that clerks will be less likely to ask for signatures for certain purchases (raising the dollar amount for no-signature-required purchases, mostly), but those changes are distinct from the introduction of EMV (chip) authentication."


...ok, you understand that the board of directors don't collect all of the profit from a company, and that shareholders can sell stock, right?   It his honestly confusing to me that you have a problem with shareholders being given ownership in a company that is spun off from the company that they own.


> The periodic table lists 118 different chemical elements. And yet, for thousands of years, humans have really, really liked one of them in particular: gold. Gold has been used as money for millennia, and its price has been going through the roof.  > Why gold? Why not osmium, lithium, or ruthenium?  [[Planet Money](http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/02/15/131430755/a-chemist-explains-why-gold-beat-out-lithium-osmium-einsteinium)] tells you why.


First you should maintain a monthly expense and find out the burn rate. There would be certain expenses that are annual but mandatory [School fees, Insurance Premium, Property Taxes, etc]. So the ideal emergency fund depending on your industry should be 3 month to 6 months plus your mandatory yearly payments, more so if they come together. For example Most of my annual payments come out in May and I bank on the Bonus payout in April to cater to this spike in expense. So if I were to lose a job in March, my emergency funds would be sufficient for routine expenses, if i don't provision for additional funds Second you need to also figure out the reduced rate of monthly burn and ideally the emergency funds should be for 3 months of normal burn and 6 months of reduced burn.


Yes, it's a simple calculation. (x+0.0625x)=200 or x=200/1.0625 = $188.24 Technically $188.24 plus tax comes to $200.01. I would just eat the extra $0.01.


Or I just dont attack him at every single thing he does. I do agree he is an idiot and does stupid shit but the guy literally can't win with y'all. He gets called out for not posting a get well message for McCain and when he does, he gets attacked for it. (Keith Olbermann) This happens with a time difference of 1.5 hours.


I have read his book(s) as well and agree with his message of identifying poor financial patterns and correcting them.  However, I don't recall the chapter about corporate bankruptcy strategies and defensive financial moves which make you impervious to lawsuits.    Maybe I glossed over that part.


"The penny/pink sheet stocks you tend to see promoted are the ones a) with small public floats or, b) they are thinly traded.  This means that any appreciable change in buy/sell volume will have an outsized effect on the stock's share price, even when the underlying fundamentals are not so great.  Promoters are frequently paid based on how much they can move a stock's price, but such moves are not long-lasting.  They peter out when the trading volumes return to more normal ranges for the stock because all of the hype has died out. There are some small-cap NASDAQ stocks which can be susceptible to promotion for the same reason -- they have small floats and/or are thinly traded.  Once someone figures out the best targets, they'll accumulate a position and then start posting all kinds of ""news"" on the web in an effort to drum up interest so they can sell off their position into the buying that follows.   The biggest problem with penny/pink sheet stocks is that they frequently fail to publish reliable financial statements, and their ownership is of a dubious nature.  In the past, these types of stocks have been targeted by organized crime syndicates, which ran their own ""pump and dump"" operations as a way to make relatively easy money.  This may still be true to some extent today.   Be wary of investing in any publicly-traded firm that has to use promoters to drum up investor interest, because it can be a serious red flag.  Even if it means missing out on a short-term opportunity, research the company before investing.  Read its financials, understand how it has behaved through its trading history, learn about the products/services it is selling.  Do your homework.  Otherwise you are doing the investing equivalent of taking your money and lighting it on fire. Remember, there's a good reason these companies are trading as penny/pink sheet stocks, and it generally has nothing to do with the notion (the promoters will tell you) that somehow the ""market has missed out on this amazing opportunity.""  Pump and dump schemes, which lie at the heart of almost all stock promotion, rely on convincing you, the investor, that you're smart enough to see what others haven't.  I hope this helps. Good luck!"


I remember when a  private jet carrying a handful of Revel top executives crashed in Minnesota a few years killing them all.  They were on a trip from AC to discuss the glass facade of the casino with a glass company.  This wasnt too long before the opening if I recall.


Twitter (and Facebook) are media companies. They make money selling (user generated) content to advertisers. To do this affectively, they need people on the ground in each market who speak the language and know the local customs.  If your question is why don't they make larger profits, is this their focus? Growth is THE major factor in stock price for a startup / newly floated company.


"Unfortunately, it's not unusual enough.  If you're looking for a popular car and the dealer wants to make sure they aren't holding onto inventory without a guarantee for sale, then it's a not completely unreasonable request.  You'll want to make sure that the deposit is on credit card, not cash or check, so you can dispute if an issue arises.   Really though, most dealers don't do this, requiring a deposit, pre sale is usually one of those hardball negotiating tactics where the dealer wrangles you into a deal, even if they don't have a good deal to make.  Dealers may tell you that you can't get your deposit back, even if they don't have the car you agreed on or the deal they agreed to.  You do have a right for your deposit back if you haven't completed the transaction, but it can be difficult if they don't want to give you your money back.  The dealer doesn't ever ""not know if they have that specific vehicle in stock"".  The dealer keeps comprehensive searchable records for every vehicle, it's good for sales and it's required for tax records.  Even when they didn't use computers for all this, the entire inventory is a log book or phone call away. In my opinion, I would never exchange anything with the dealer without a car actually attached to the deal.  I'd put down a deposit on a car transfer if I were handed a VIN and verified that it had all the exact options that we agreed upon, and even then I'd be very cautious about the condition."


"Once upon a time I ran my own micro hedge fund for a very short time.  I can't recall the term commonly used in the industry for such info, but a few individuals, including the prime brokerage firm's founder, offered information of questionable character.  I refused to trade on any of it, not only because of the borderline illegality, but also because I didn't trust any of it... seemed to be more rumor mill type nonsense than anything else.  Moreover, if they already have that info, then it's already up/down... so it then goes the reverse direction as they take profits.  As is commonly said even in normal investor circles: ""buy the rumor, sell the news."""


Those extra treat points have to come from somewhere, and they come from American Express charging merchants a higher percentage than Visa or Mastercard. So it's less attractive for those merchants to accept it.


"Drive it around SF with a big sign saying ""I have no idea why I bought this, but give me ideas how to make money with it!""  P/S: only drive it down hill in SF. It will not be able to make it up-hill, with the sign."


"Well centralization hasn't failed so much as we've swung way to heavily to the centralization side.  Just like we'll probably swing to far the other way in response to this because most people can't be bothered to parse out issues on a case by case basis.  Instead they'd rather cling to some narrow set of political beliefs as if its the answers to all the myriad problems life could throw at you.      ""The Master Narrative Nobody Dares Admit"" is the worlds a complex place and there is no ideology that's ever going to be proven 'right' because there is no ideology that has all the answers.  Rampant kneejerk overuse of centralization is just as bad as rampant kneejerk overuse of privatization or decentralization or anything else. And we're all worse off for it when everyone wan't to play these petty games of who's socioeconomic and political religion is best.  Some things in life are better left decentralized.  Some things are better left centralized.  Some things are better privatized.  Some things are better left as a 'public good'.  There's no magic answer.  People should stop trying to scrabble from one ideology (and I'm not even talking only political ideologies here) to another and just educate yourselves as much as possible and take things on a case by case basis."


I would say it depends on what your long term plans and goals are.  If you are trying to get rid of credit cards and never use them again, then I would say to keep $1000 as an emergency fund, pay the cards off and then save to build your emergency fund up to 3-6 months expenses.  However, if you are just going to run the balances back up, I would save save 3-6 months expenses out of the money you just received and pay down the higher interest cards with what is left over.


The severity of wealth inequality- more so than its existence- is what I'm getting at when I talk about the Fed. The cantillon effect is a theory that essentially states that the first recipients of stimulus are far better off than those 2 or 3 degrees of separation later.  So if you look at Fed policies, where monetary stimulus is directed only towards the financial system and credit markets, certain parties will benefit disproportionately first before others later. In this case, that would be those employed by the industry (bankers, investors, etc), institutions in that industry (banks, hedge funds, pension/mutual funds), and owners of securities (the wealthy). Spillover effects impact the stock market, real estate, art, etc. and they are not a result of fundamentals, but rather of mis-allocated capital.  What I'm getting at is we don't need central planners (i.e. the Fed) to make decisions regarding the market for money - interest rates - or pursue dubious financial experiments at best to somehow fix problems that they themselves caused in the past (through extended low interest rate environments). Central banking could take a very serious hit if cryptocurrencies become mainstream- which I do not expect for a long time- but it's the best emergent challenger to the existing paradigm.


Finance is usually urine test, like most non-security/government employers. If anything, banks test once when you're hired or in the first few months after you start, then never again.   Lots of drugs on Wall Street. Uppers are probably especially prevalent among the analyst ranks.   Hiring good people is hard. They're not going to try to find a reason to get rid of you unless they want to.


At that rate, European schools will soon be overrun by American students. Here in Germany, foreign students pay the same fees as anyone else, which amount to anything between 100 € and 1500 € ($125 - $2000) annually at public universities, and there are already quite a few US students. Combine this low cost with a high availability of English-language courses and a fairly good employment situation (unemployment is currently at about 7% as measured by German measuring standards, which amounts to about 5% as measured in the US, and native English speakers are still rare enough that just about anyone can earn good money as a private English tutor), and coming here looks more attractive by the minute.


Open, high, low, close, volume. The hint is that volume on new years day is 0.  DC's comment is actually a better answer than mine - when given any data set, you should really know the meaning of each cell/number.


"Investing is balancing the desire for return against the various risks that your money is faced with. There's also a recognition that an investment will be in place for some extended period of time. Speculation is seeking short-term maximum return, without protecting yourself against risk.  ""Speculation"" or ""Speculators"" is often thrown out as a pejorative, but you need speculation to have a healthy market."


"You could have some of the chaos and create a product for yourself, which is owned fully by you, where nobody would ever be able to fire you or go over your head or oust you or force you to sell.   That's the beauty of bootstrapping.  My essay was not anti-startup and it was not anti-fun-creative-chaos. It was anti-venture capital, anti-pipe dreams, anti-selling-yourself.   My whole blog is pro-building-products because products as assets, which make money -- and the difference between a normal person with a job (even at a startup) and the truly rich is that the rich have assets and the normos just have time.   I aim to be ""truly rich"" and not sell my time. Thus my 3-year journey into products. Thus my blog."


I still laugh at the whole Skype thing.  They have barely improved it since they bought it and in fact, the Windows 8 version should be pulled and they should put people on the desktop version. The functionality that existed in MSN Messenger that still does not exist in Skype should embarrass everyone.  Want to appear offline to that pesky friend that messages you?  Nope, you have to be offline for everyone or no one.  Want to delete your account?  Nope, that is literally not possible.


So: What you do:


Dear Sir/Madam,    WorldofTrade.com offers exclusive business solutions to both buyers and suppliers of the world. It is a huge pool of data of leading buyers and sellers offers from the world,An online hub of information for all buyers and sellers of multiple trade leads,b2b directory and manufacturers directory from the global marketplace.Register Now...Become a part of more secured of online Marketplace.Our Global presence worldoftrade, Thanks.


"Their banking systems basically avoid usury, which is essentially interest, because it is immoral.  So how the lenders make money is by being a ""partner"" and getting a pre-agreed to amount of profit. However, risk of failure is still on the borrower. In the end the numbers come out the same, they just call it something different.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury#Islamic_banking"


MSNBC is **NOT** just as bad.  That's really stretching to make a bullshit false equivalency.  Where are their multiple multi-million dollar sexual harassment lawsuits?  When we see actual, real-world evidence that MSNBC even approaches the gigantic mountain of misogyny at work we see at Fox, then maybe I'll give your claim some credit.


Banks has to complete KYC. In case you want to open a bank account, most will ask for proof of address. I also feel it is difficult for bank to encash a cheque payable to a business in your account. Opening a bank account in the name of your business or alternatively obtaining a cheque payable to your personal name seems the only alternatives to me.


$500 per package, with a package representing 100 stocks, or $5k for the entire market from a single source (NYSE, for example).  IIRC that was the neighborhood when I went looking. I actually only needed one index in great detail - I chose the S&P 500, and found a source for well under $100.


"To answer the investment aspect takes a bit of math. First, solar insolation numbers:  This represents the average sun-hours per day for a given area. You can see the range from 4 to 6, or 1460 hrs to about 2190 hrs of sun per year depending on location. I believe electricity also has a range of cost, but 15 cents per KWH is a good average.  So, a 1KW panel will produce as much as $328 per year of electricity in a high sun-hrs area, but only $219 in a lower sun-hrs area.  If we agree to ignore the government subsidies and look for the stable price unaffected by outside influence, an installed price of even $2500 would produce a return of 13% and a reasonable full payback over an 8 year period.  I call this installed price a tipping point, the price where this purchase provides a decent return. Some would accept a lower return, and therefore a higher price. As duff points out, this should be treated as the post rebate/tax credit price. Those help to push the price below this point. At the price point where the energy cost per panel is below, the government intervention may be unnecessary. The power companies may find consumer owned panels are the cheapest way to clip the peak consumption which tends to be the most expensive power demand.) One can take the insolation numbers and cost of local power to produce a grid showing the return for a 1KW panel in $$/year. (At this point the cost of money kick in. The present value of $100/yr is far higher today than if short term rates were say, 8%)  Once panels drop to where they are compelling for the higher return areas, I'd expect volume to drive continued improvements in cost and better economies of scale. Initially, the need for storage isn't there, as the infrastructure is in place to drive your meter backwards if you produce more than you use. The peek sun coincides with peek demand and the electric companies are happy to have your demand go negative during those times.  Update - the conversation with Duff led me to research 'demand charge' a bit more. You see, the utility company has to have equipment to generate the peak demand, usually occurring in the early afternoon, say 12N-2PM as the sun is brightest and AC use in particular, highest. I found that Austin energy has a PDF describing the fee for this. Simply put, the last kW of demand will cost you $14.03 in summer months and $12.65 in winter. This adds to $160/yr that a 1kW panel might save the owner. Even if one does capture the full power at peak every month, $100 is still non-trivial. This factor alone justifies $1000 worth of panel cost, and as Duff points out, the government may find it cheaper to use this method to clip peak demand than by funding bigger power generators.  To summarize, the question isn't so much ""are they worth it"" as ""what is a xKW panel worth?"" (A function of annual savings and time value of money.) The ever decreasing installed cost for a given system makes solar an inevitable part of the future power technology. I am not a green tree hugging guy, but I do like to breathe fresh air as much as anyone. I'm happy with whatever role solar plays in cutting down pollution."


For those interested in projected social security shortfalls, solvency, and methods of reform, I highly suggest:  http://www.actuary.org/pdf/Campaign_2012_Soc_Sec_120327.pdf  http://www.actuary.org/pdf/SocialSec_Trustees_2011_IB_FINAL_060111.pdf   The American Academy of Actuaries is a nonpartisan governing body of actuaries in the United States, and these issue briefs are relatively easy to follow overviews of the issues with Social Security.  The thing I am surprised the OP article glosses over is that, while social security isn't going bankrupt by the author's definition, benefits will have to be instantaneously reduced by something like 24% in 2024 if we do not reform the program and allow the trust fund to be completely depleted.  This is something we should be fixing now, not 2 years before this happens.  Unfortunately, as is somewhat typical, the government will kick the can down the road because no one wants to be the guy that voted to raise the retirement age, reduce benefits, or raise taxes.


"The IRS rules are actually the same.  26 U.S. Code § 1091 - Loss from wash sales of stock or securities In   the case of any loss claimed to have been sustained from any sale or   other disposition of shares of stock or securities where it appears   that, within a period beginning 30 days before the date of such sale   or disposition and ending 30 days after such date, the taxpayer has   acquired (by purchase or by an exchange on which the entire amount of   gain or loss was recognized by law), or has entered into a contract or   option so to acquire, substantially identical stock or securities,   then no deduction shall be allowed... What you should take away from the quote above is ""substantially identical stock or securities."" With stocks, one company may happen to have a high correlation, Exxon and Mobil come to mind, before their merger of course. With funds or ETFs, the story is different. The IRS has yet to issue rules regarding what level of overlap or correlation makes two funds or ETFs ""substantially identical.""  Last month, I wrote an article, Tax Loss Harvesting, which analyses the impact of taking losses each year. I study the 2000's which showed an average loss of 1% per year, a 9% loss for the decade. Tax loss harvesting made the decade slightly positive, i.e. an annual boost of approx 1%."


"IANAL (or an accountant), but there is a useful notion of ""technical insolvency"" which you it sounds like you probably meet, and which is a distinct concept from actual insolvency. Couple of choice quotes from that link: If a company (or person) is technically insolvent that merely means   that it has a negative net asset value; its liabilities are greater   than its assets.   The significance of technical insolvency depends on circumstances: it   may be an indicator of serious problems that may lead to actual   insolvency, or it may be perfectly acceptable. ... A technically insolvent company is free to keep trading as long as the   directors reasonably believe that the company will be able to pay its   debts, and, again, as long as an upaid creditor does not use the   courts to force a liquidation. which is basically what @keshlam's comment on your question is saying."


"The language in the starbucks accounts is highly ambiguous. But Starbucks has no treasury shares which helps work out what is going on.  Where it says ""respectively"" it is referring to the years 2014 and 2013 rather than ""issued and outstanding""...even though it doesn't read that way. Not easy to work out. The figures are:  Authorised 1200 2014 Issued 749.5 2014 Outstanding 749.5 2013 Issued 753.2 2013 Outstanding 753.2"


"The supposition at the core here is supposed health risks - and costs- of green house gas on individual realities health? Almost laughable using data in such a way. Further, the attempt to suggest ""only"" 84 billion cost in regulations assumes regulations and the economy exists in a vacuum. The economy doesn't work like thAt, but then again, given the priorities of the individuals writing/supporting the paper, this propaganda is no surprise. Regulations curb business, income, efficiency, materials usage, individual and collective quality of life and a host of other positive indicators. The lefts obsession with regulation is absurd- and lacks accurate empirical support for long term net gain."


"This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](http://themarketmogul.com/central-bank-policy/?hvid=uJZ0z) reduced by 94%. (I'm a bot) ***** > A futures contract would be set at a certain level of NGDP growth, and from the buy and sell orders made on the contract, the central bank would ascertain the market&#039;s prediction of future nominal income and alter its policy rate in a way that would bring those expectations in line with its original target.  > TLTRO. First launched by the ECB in 2014, with TLTRO-II introduced in 2016, the TLTRO program allows banks to borrow reserve balances from the central bank, long-term and with negative rates, of up to 30% of the value of their outstanding loans to businesses and consumers, directly incentivising new loan creation to spur growth.  > The policy has the potential to be far more effective than the aforementioned policy innovations and is likely to be relied upon in an expanded form, which might be referred to as &#039;helicopter money&#039;, alongside negative policy rates, when the next recession occurs.   ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/6v2n2b/a_new_dawn_in_central_bank_policy/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ ""Version 1.65, ~195528 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*: **rate**^#1 **inflation**^#2 **policy**^#3 **Bank**^#4 **central**^#5"


I think the IRS doc you want is http://www.irs.gov/publications/p550/ch04.html#en_US_2010_publink100010601 I believe the answers are:


Interest is calculated daily. Doing the math: Between 6-17 and 7-25 are 38 days, 200.29 / 38 = 5.27 interest per day. Between 7-25 and 8-17 are 23 days. 120.02 / 23 = 5.22 interest per day. The minimal difference is because the principal has already gone down a little bit. So you should expect ~5.20 x number of days for the next interest number coming up; slowly decreasing as the remaining principal debt decreases. Note that this is equivalent of an annual interest rate of over 20 %, which is beyond acceptable. In the current economy, this is ridiculously high. I recommend trying to get a refinancing with another provider; you should be able to get it for a third of that.


"I used to be in research department for big financial data company.   Tell your son that there are three factors: Most people think that net sales vs. expectations is the only factor.  It might not even be the biggest.  It is simply how much money did company make.  Note that this is not how many units they sold.  For most companies they will have adjustable pricing and incentives in their sector.  For example let's talk about a new company selling Superman Kid's Bikes (with a cape the flips out when you hit a certain speed).  The company has it in Walmart at one price, Target at another, Toys R' Us even cheaper, Amazon (making more profit there), and other stores.  They are doing ""OK"" come Dec. 1 but holiday season being half way over they slash price from $100 to $80 because they have tons of inventory.  What are looking at her is how much money did they make.  Note that marketing, advertising, legal (setting up contracts) are a bit fixed. In my opinion consumer sentiment is the #1 thing for a company that sells a product.  Incredible consumer sentiment is like millions of dollars in free advertising.  So let's say Dec. 15th comes and the reviews on the Superman Bike are through the roof.  Every loves it, no major defects.  Company can't even supply the retailers now because after slashing the price it became a great buy.  A common investor might be pissed that some dummy at the company slashed the prices so they could have had a much better profit margin, but at the same time it wouldn't have led to an onslaught of sales and consumer sentiment. And the last area is product sell-off.  This doesn't apply to all product but most.  Some products will only have a technology shelf life, some will actually go bad or out of fashion, and even selling Superman bikes you want to get those to the store because the product is so big.  So ignoring making a profit can a company sell off inventory at or around cost.  If they can't, even if they made a profit, their risk factor goes up. So let's get back to Superman Bikes.  This is the only product company ABC has.  They had expected holiday sales at 100 million and profits at 40 million.  They ended up at 120 million and 44 million.   Let's say their stock was $20 before any information was gathered by the public (remember for most companies info is gathered daily now so this is rather simplistic).  So you might expect that the stock would rise to maybe $24 - to which if you were an investor is a great profit. However this company has a cult consumer following who are waiting for the Captain America Bike (shoots discs) and the Hulk Bike (turns green when you go fast).  Let's say consumer sentiment and projections base off that put next holiday sales at $250 million.  So maybe the company is worth $40 a share now.  But consumer sentiment is funny because not only does it effect future projections but it also effects perceived present value of company - which may have the stock trading at $60 a share (think earnings and companies like Google).  Having a company people feel proud owning or thinking is cool is also a indicator or share worth. I gave you a really good example of a very successful company selling Superman Bikes... There are just as many companies that have the opposite happening.  Imagine missing sales goals by a few million with bad consumer feedback and all of a sudden your company goes from $20 to $5 a share."


A questoin that I deal with almost every day.  Like most investments it comes down to.....What is the purpose for this money?  If it is truly a rainy day savings account that you may need in the short term, then fixed income investments like savings accounts, GIC's, Bonds, Bond funds and Fixed Income ETF's are ideal as they are taxed very inefficiently outside of any registered plan (therefore tax free in here).  However if you have a plan in place that has all your short term needs covered elsewhere, I believe this is the place that you should be the most aggressive in your overall portfolio.  If that mining stock goes up by 1000% wouldn't it be nice to put all of that gain in your pocket?


Bank products have been pretty common with tax refunds as well, and they are also being heavily scrutinized for the same reasons.  Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) have been outlawed for future tax seasons due to lack of consumer protection.  What is a bank product, you might ask?  Rather than waiting 7-14 days for the a direct deposit from the IRS, a lot of places like H+R Block and Jackson Hewitt would offer a bank product to get you money quicker.  For this service, they charge a fee (usually $99-$149) which is grossly overpriced for how little work it takes, but if your refund is several thousand dollars, you may not care.  A Refund Anticipation Loan was the most predatory bank product, as it was an advance on your loan for the amount your expected refund.  However, if there were any errors in your return and the IRS decided your refund was less than what your tax preparer calculated it to be, you were stuck with paying back the advance amount, leaving you to foot the bill for whatever errors your preparer may have made.  These loans also had very high interest rates, since usually the people that wanted RALs were also the same people that rely upon cash advances.  There are also Electronic Refund Checks (which ironically are paper checks for the consumer, not electronic deposits), direct deposits, and prepaid debit cards.  Despite the fact that these same methods of refund payments are offered by the IRS themselves, preparers and banks alike sold these to collect fees for essentially no work.  I'm not sure how similar these bank products for student loans are, but I wanted to shed some light on them anyways.  Regardless of how badly you need money, **do not ever accept money through a bank product.**  If it benefited you more, banks and preparers would not offer these.  (Source:  telemarketing at a tax preparation software company)


Citing the Yahoo Finance Help page, Beta: The Beta used is Beta of Equity. Beta is the monthly price   change of a particular company relative to the monthly price change of   the S&P500. The time period for Beta is 3 years (36 months) when   available. Regarding customised time periods, I do not think so.


An actual discussion question? I just wanna push fluff to get traffic on my blog! The millenials did it!!!!  In all seriousness, the housing market is all about supply and demand. Namely, there arent many housing being built across the US right now, so thats driving prices up. Cheap loans also helped diminish the supply because those who could bought up a lot of rental properties since '08. So these things have caused home prices to steadily climb, especially in desirable places to live such as large college towns, Boston, San Fran, etc.  But keeping demand in check are a few thingns too. Rates are now going up and few millenials can afford starter homes due to student debt and relatively lower income in their late 20s than their parents. Plus theyre having less kids at the moment. So thats all pushing demand down, especially in rural areas.  The wild card, IMO, will be the impending recession and the huge sell off in 10-15 years when all the Boomers start hitting their late 70s and early 80s. So theres your major volatility.


"Monogram jewelry is the best present for any occasion! Giving a personalized gift shows that you really took the time and effort to pick something special. If you are looking for a monogram gold bracelet that shows off who you are the best lovable person, then monogram jewelry is the perfect option for you! You can visit our website ""adriana.jewelry"". Here you can get a lot of variety jewelry. We provide you monogram jewelry at affordable price.We have an amazing collection of jewelry."


"Your argument is biased vastly in favor of the banks:  Doesn't the simultaneous growth of the residential and commercial real estate pricing bubbles undermines the case made by yourself that Fannie and Freddie were at the root of the problem?  Why does your explanation also leave out predatory lending? Or that during 2006, 22% of homes purchased (1.65 million units) were for investment purposes, with an additional 14% (1.07 million units) purchased as vacation homes. During 2005, these figures were 28% and 12%, respectively. In other words, a record level of nearly 40% of homes purchased were not intended as primary residences.   Or that housing prices nearly doubled between 2000 and 2006, a vastly different trend from the historical appreciation at roughly the rate of inflation.  Or that the proportion of subprime ARM loans made to people with credit scores high enough to qualify for conventional mortgages with better terms increased from 41% in 2000 to 61% by 2006.   From wikipedia: So why did lending standards decline? In a Peabody Award winning program, NPR correspondents argued that a ""Giant Pool of Money"" (represented by $70 trillion in worldwide fixed income investments) sought higher yields than those offered by U.S. Treasury bonds early in the decade. Further, this pool of money had roughly doubled in size from 2000 to 2007, yet the supply of relatively safe, income generating investments had not grown as fast. Investment banks on Wall Street answered this demand with financial innovation such as the mortgage-backed security (MBS) and collateralized debt obligation (CDO), which were assigned safe ratings by the credit rating agencies. In effect, Wall Street connected this pool of money to the mortgage market in the U.S., with enormous fees accruing to those throughout the mortgage supply chain, from the mortgage broker selling the loans, to small banks that funded the brokers, to the giant investment banks behind them. By approximately 2003, the supply of mortgages originated at traditional lending standards had been exhausted. However, continued strong demand for MBS and CDO began to drive down lending standards, as long as mortgages could still be sold along the supply chain. Eventually, this speculative bubble proved unsustainable."


The are legit, I have been a member for more than 15 years. I have used there services many many many times. I have never sold any, I have only been a customer. The friend who sold me the service did very well for himself selling and recruiting.


Should I pay off the credit cards now or do the monthly payments thing? It need not be a binary choice; you could take the middle ground. Assuming that an emergency fund of $10-15k is sufficient, you could pay off one credit card and do the monthly payment for the other cards. With one card cleared, you may feel better. I would choose to clear the card with the highest interest, followed by the smallest debt first as it's the mathematically optimum way. I should also let you know that there's this debt-snowball method which is not as optimum but has some valid reasons for existing. Choose the optimum way if you're financially disciplined. p.s. I'm not trained financially, nor am I in the industry. Just my two cents.


"For the future: NEVER buy a car based on the payment.  When dealers start negotiating, they always try to have you focus on the monthly payment.  This allows them to change the numbers for your trade, the price they are selling the car for, etc so that they maximize the amount of money they can get.  To combat this you need to educate yourself on how much total money you are willing to spend for the vehicle, then, if you need financing, figure out what that actually works out to on a monthly basis. NEVER take out a 6 year loan.  Especially on a used car.  If you can't afford a used car with at most a 3 year note (paying cash is much better) then you can't really afford that car.  The longer the note term, the more money you are throwing away in interest.  You could have simply bought a much cheaper car, drove it for a couple years, then paid CASH for a new(er) one with the money you saved.   Now, as to the amount you are ""upside down"" and that you are looking at new cars.  $1400 isn't really that bad.  (note: Yes you were taken to the cleaners.)  Someone mentioned that banks will sometimes loan up to 20% above MSRP.  This is true depending on your credit, but it's a very bad idea because you are purposely putting yourself in the exact same position (worse actually).   However, you shouldn't need to worry about that.  It is trivial to negotiate such that you pay less than sticker for a new car while trading yours in, even with that deficit.  Markup on vehicles is pretty insane.  When I sold, it was usually around 20% for foreign and up to 30% for domestic: that leaves a lot of wiggle room. When buying a used car, most dealers ask for at least $3k more than what they bought them for... Sometimes much more than that depending on blue book (loan) value or what they managed to talk the previous owner out of.   Either way, a purchase can swallow that $1400 without making it worse.  Buy accordingly."


It's the levels of immigration. Currently it's limited to ~700K / year. Republicans are against raising that limit. Bannon has advocated for lowering that limit; Trump has made efforts to restrict undocumented immigrants; which means that much MORE needs to be made up by legal immigration. He's also restricted the flow of legal immigration (e.g. limiting the window to apply for H1Bs)


It's called starting at the bottom. I know millennials feel entitled to run a firm immediately after they graduate. That wasn't the case 50 years ago and it's not the case today. My first few entry level jobs were also menial


This is a clear example of annuities, where you are trying to find Net Present Value (NPV). To find a quick solution you can use the excel function (=NPV). Solving it without excel is slightly more complicated. You have to use the annuities formula:  (Payment/rate) * (1 - 1/(1+r)^n )  This formula can be written in many different ways, this is one of the simplest.  So how do we translate that to your problem? For the first option: -5000/0.04 * (1 - 1/(1.04^2 ) = -9430.47 If you haven't made this years 5000 payment you have to subtract this years 5000, so option 1 would equal -14430,47.  Option 2 is similar -2000/0.04 (1 - 1/(1.04^10 ) = -16221.79 WAIT! You also have to subtract the initial cost so option 2 is -36221.79  So in essence, option 1 is better (but you will have to buy a machine sooner or later).  Part 2 (discount rate = 12%) is for you to understand the importance of high rates in long periods of time (like option 2's 10 years)    EDIT: For clearer formulas. Also made a mistake calculating option 2


"Yes you can. Volvo for example sells ""polestar"" tunes. Walk into the dealership, plunk down $1600, and your car gains 40 horsepower  from a software tweak. Still maintains the full warranty. Ford sells ford performance tunes the same way. Zero hardware changes. Here is the link http://accessories.volvocars.com/en-az/XC70(08-)/Accessories/Document/VCC-480810/2016"


More like the market had a correction. Anybody with two brain cells to rub together understands that WWIII is not happening here. Go buy some defense stock.  EDIT: The trolls downvoting me..how about manning up and actually explaining your take? Or are you too busy buying canned goods for your bomb shelters?


Help release stress, reduce anxiety, and energize your body and mind through Diaphragmatic - Deep Breathing Exercises and Pranayama Breathing techniques taught by Sherin Bual in Houston. Check out SherinBual.com today. Sessions offered remotely on Skype or in person. Free 30-minute consult.


I quote this episode regularly.  So many businesses will gladly take reservations.  Restaurants, car dealer service centers, doctor's offices, etc and then you still end up waiting around.  I spent about eight hours over three visits to get tires put on one of my cars _with_ appointments!  Even after they put the wrong tires on after the first attempt they kept me waiting for hours the second go around.  Guess where I'm never going again.  When I started dating my now wife I took her to a place with a 7PM reservation.  We finally sat around 9PM after another couple told the owner we had been waiting longer than anyone else in the pile of people at the front of the restaurant.  I realize that appointments can run over and places don't want to have unused resources, but I can't fucking stand when places don't _hold_ the reservation.


Anything can be insured for the right price... this product is offered for devices at higher risk, which would be logical purpose of owner needing coverage for a specific length of time. Typically this would be a type of adverse selection, but TROV targets customers that typically would not require insurance on their device, but as you said they may be traveling and putting their devices at added risk. Like all insurance companies, their Loss Ratio (Losses/Premiums) will depend on the law of large numbers and spread of risk. As we know, the majority of the time trips are taken, electronics make it back home safely. Like many tech companies, their advantage over conventional insurers is likely low overhead costs. Being on a mobile platform, they likely have a fraction of the claims handling cost of a conventional insurer. Payments are likely automated by linking bank accounts, so there is little transaction cost burden on this company. In short, their operation is likely highly automated with few staff and low expenses, allowing them to take on a higher loss ratio than conventional insurers and still leave room for profit. Without having ever used this service, I can tell you they likely price in anticipated fraud, the same way Walmart prices in inventory loss (shoplifting) into their prices. I personally would share your concern that it'd be difficult to combat fraud on such a platform, especially with no claims adjusters whom are typically the first line of defense. Again, I answer this never having used their service, but I work as an Analyst at a large insurer and these would be my assumptions based on what I know of TROV.


"Put the whole lot into a couple of low-cost broad index funds with dividends reinvested (also known as accumulation funds) and then don't look at them. Invest through a low-cost broker. There are a number to choose from and once you start googling around the theme of ""index fund investing"" you'll find them. The S&P 500 is a popular index to start with."


"You want to ""begin building a nice portfolio"" comprised of ""real estate"" and ""solar and wind"".  There are ways to do that without starting your own solar power farm or buying giant wind turbines, or whole apartment complexes. They're called ETFs. They're diversified and it's unlikely that you'll use the entirety of your initial investment."


Hire an accountant. Now that you're a millionaire, you're going to want to get a professional to do your taxes for you, because you have more to lose if you mess it up. If you're lucky the accountant might even give you better financial advice than you'll get from random strangers on the Internet.


<< UWCFS Quick CARD >>  denominated in Euros € steps Fees are here (question 1).


If I use my credit card on my ITIN and behave like a good guy (paying   everything on time), will it create history for my SSN next year or   will I have to start from scratch? Yes, you'll keep your history, it will be reported on your SSN when you update your creditors with it. I have an option of using a secured card v/s an unsecured one. Which   one is better from the view of my credit history? The one which you don't have to pay for. Consider the value of money you're using for the secured card, and all the fees and interest you expect to pay. Unless you're planning on a mortgage in the next couple of years, there's no rush with the credit. It is definitely not worth paying money for.


Just an observation analysis of what has been going on and what the media buzzwords are. Also all of the people who I know that are doing well or are not complaining take care of there health/body, didn't divorce, work hard, educated and are not stressed because they live within there means. Plus I truly believe that our capitalistic society is designed to keep you in debt or keep you needing government/charity help if your poor/uneducated.


Actually she is. I've been on IR calls many times before and this is different. She is trying to maintain control because Marcato is trying to out the CEO, make bdubs do more franchises and so on. What she is saying is that they are doing everything right, the industry is the only one to blame and that Marcato is incorrect in saying they underperformed.


"A quitclaim deed says, in essence, ""whatever ownership I have in this property I give to you"". Contrast that with a warranty deed, in which the grantor guarantees that he has good title, that he has the right to convey the property, that it is free of all liens and encumbrances, and that he will warrant and defend your title in the event of a breach. Obviously the warranty deed gives you more protection, to the extent that the grantor has the wherewithal to back it up. Regardless, the trend today is to buy title insurance and let the title company deal with those complications."


Try a tool like mint.com that will send you text messages regarding how you budget is going.  If you use mint, set up your budget to send you reminders before you hit your budget.  Example:  if my budget for dining out is $100, I tell mint.com it is $50 and I get nagging text messages after $50 to remind me to keep a lid on my spending.


I work in internet marketing. Starting an internet marketing company is much like being a novelist, all it requires is some knowledge and the willingness to spend long hours in front of a computer. Long hours in front of computer being constructive vs long hours in front of a tv being nonconstructive. Much the same thing.


A proper commercial bank will charge lower fees for currency exchange than most other banks .. and banks will charge less than places that just do currency exchange. Actually, I've usually found that the best way to get currency is to use the atm/credit-card networks and withdraw money from my own bank.


Your question is unclear about whether you are moving from bi-weekly payments or to bi-weekly payments. Let's calculate each case. Bi-weekly pay means you will be paid every two weeks. The amount for each payment will be your annual salary divided by 26, possibly with a small decrease (around 0.3%) to account for the fact that years are slightly longer than 52 weeks (i.e. there are slightly more than 26 two-week periods in a year), and possibly an even smaller adjustment to take account of the fact that some years are a day longer than that. You will be paid literally every 14 days (with some adjustments if a payday falls on a holiday) If you are going to be paid twice a month, then each payment will be your annual salary divided by 24. Typically you are paid on the same days of each month - for example the 1st and the fifteenth, or the last business day before those.


Starting of 2011, your broker has to keep track of all the transactions and the cost basis, and it will be reported on your 1099-B. Also, some brokers allow downloading the data directly to your tax software or to excel charts (I use E*Trade, and last year TurboTax downloaded all the transaction directly from them).


The working class and the rapidly disappearing middle class need to form an army and go to war against the rich. I'm going to visit Gettysburg soon where I will study how to conduct a civil war. Just today I learned that there are groups forming to fight this war. It really needs to happen. Last week over 51 people overdosed in my city from opiates out of sheer economic despair. All the programs intended to help these people will be defunded.


"Yea Trump is just shutting down everything, right? So.. less than a handful of instances where the WH doesnt allow certain press is now a threat to our free speech? They treat Trump like complete garbage, its only right he plays their game sometimes.  These media outlets main priority there isnt to report on the president. Instead they beg for a moment where they can create a nice short little segment and say ""ah ha, gotcha!"". The legacy media is on its way out. Alternatives such as youtube allow people to create videos to really disect information with much less political bias."


>[**Проекты, скамы и нормальные! Другие способы заработка в интернете без вложений! Кешбэк и партнерка [3:42]**](http://youtu.be/ud677aHnoQk)  >>Друзья, в этом видео, вы узнаете, какие проекты в скаме а какие платят. Так же, есть проект, в котором можно заработать без вложений!  > [*^Финансовый ^Вектор*](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAOABF2yT1SjVqI7RK9aIUg) ^in ^People ^& ^Blogs  >*^1 ^views ^since ^Sep ^2017*  [^bot ^info](/r/youtubefactsbot/wiki/index)


"Assuming you are below retirement age, you typically cannot roll money from a Roth IRA into a 401k nor transfer money out of a 401k until you leave the company. Your best bet is to leave your exising roth ira separate from your 401k.  A good strategy for retirement accounts is whenever able (typically when you switch jobs) roll your 401k into a ""rollover IRA"" (not a roth).   Then you can manage your investments with more options than the 5-20 funds provided in the 401k.   I would recommend against rolling funds into a 401k because of the lack of options in most 401k plans. Also, 401k is pre-tax and Roth is post-tax.   Pre and post tax investments don't mix before withdrawal unless you do a conversion of some kind."


"Does anyone else find it... ""odd""... That the EU keeps spanking uber-successful American companies...  Yet, the US has never needed to do the same to any European companies?  We only go after them for such petty reasons as explicitly funding terrorism or soliciting US tax evaders as their core marketing strategy."


"Economics will generally be more respected if it is a Bachelors of Science. The BS will have (in general) more quantitative coursework as compared to a BA. The reason that economics PHDs are often valued is for their quantitative skills, hence why you have heard the Economics BA can be a ""useless major."" This is not entirely true it can be a great start to a law or government career. Personally I paired an economics degree with mathematics to get a strong quant skillset.   The truth is economics has little practical application in business and if you are truly interested in business that would be the best major to acquire well rounded skills in that area. While you may learn some strategy and high level finance in an economics program you will know little about marketing, accounting, operations and other more nuanced areas."


How is taxing them preventing a donation to their charity of choice? It isn't one or the other. You can be taxed and voluntarily charitable.   The whole GOP point, though, is to make it ALL voluntary charity so if they give, they get to decide who deserves their money and they deserve a big fat tax deduction.


FedEx was founded as an airline first. So they fell into that protection. Now they are pretty much the same type of company, but UPS is unionized and FedEx is protected from that cost.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_Labor_Act  UPS spends millions trying to get it repealed and FedEx spends millions trying to keep the exemption. It's really unfair that FedEx has this protection, but at the same time UPS own most of the market still.  Old but relevant: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/mar/05/house-bill-would-open-fedex-unionization/


I only get a 10% FedEx discount using shiprush.com software but this is far cheaper than USPS Parcel Post, plus it has real tracking and built in insurance.  UPS is pretty costly unless you have a contract.


Why would any of that matter? He said it would give him an edge. It doesn't. He has to be smarter to deal with a normal situation due to his disability. The outcome is the same, but more effort is used to achieve it.  I'm saying that a normal person can use that excess effort to achieve more.   I don't have any statistics, but for every disabled person who outperforms a regular person, there are probably 10 that underperform. It's a called a disability for a reason.


> Do u find issue with a person having a beer or a couple glasses of wine every other day?   To some extent, yes. Because they are using it as an escape rather than actually getting help. If you can't unwind naturally, theres an issue that needs to be worked on.  With that said, its not a huge deal either as long as it doesn't affect others. Like you don't drive drunk or become annoying to others.   > Same applies to mj most users arent getting completely blasted everyday and i have sources to prove it if youre interested.  The issue become they think its okay to drink and drive, smoke in your face, act stupid when they get high, etc... There are zero rules and restrictions.   > Not trying to be rude but you havent even done your research on mj laws in your own state. Prop 64 is almost identical to drinking laws so you're absolutely incorrect here  I don't see the cops doing anything about people smoking on the street,  etc... Sure they say you can't drive impaired, but I don't see people getting in trouble for it   > Youre right but my point was alcohol is perfectly legal and offers no medicinal value isn't that a bit ridiculous?  Sure, but I didn't make that rule.   > You'd greatly benefit from educating yourself on the matter of mj. There's a reason why many conservatives also support mj legalzation including myself. Id be willing to send u some credible information if you're interested.  I appreciate the offer and I don't think you're wrong about anything you said, but in a place like Los Angeles, you see a ton of troublemakers and trash smoking and causing trouble or being loud and stupid. Much more so than with alcohol from what I have seen.  I think a lot of it is the actual people, but if it wasn't so available, it wouldn't be so bad. That's the issue I have with it.


Two big differences from the Digg days: 1) apps exist, meaning a large percentage of users will not even notice the redesign if they don't use the website. 2) Digg changed both functionality and design, but I believe reddit is only proposing to change design (so far).


> The day colleges went from being institutions geared towards attracting like-minded people interested in intellectual pursuits into education factories crumbling under the weight of administrative bloat is when the classical concept of a college education died.   Hear, hear!!


">You don't want FDA to review generic applications?  I don't want there to be ""applications,"" period.  People and their doctors are the best judge of what substances should be consumed for health reasons.  >How would you stop fly by night companies from selling low quality harmful drugs?  I wouldn't.  And yet, the best examples of ""harmful drugs"" out there, such as heroin, cocaine, etc have all gotten significantly more pure over time without government intervention.  Consumers for some magic reason are demanding and receiving better quality drugs!  How is that happening?  Let me reverse the question for you - why do you want to artificially limit supply of drugs to people, driving up prices?  What good does that serve?"


I hope there's so much wrong with what I wrote, I do. Thank you for correcting me. For argument's sake, my following responses will assume that you are talking about the US market. Almost any other kind of argument would take too long to elaborate or expand upon.   In North America, the rules of Capitalism *are* somewhat ironclad, are they not? Did Americans have a debate over whether or not workers even have the right to strike, or collectively bargain, last year? Aside from that, I am aware hat other US companies do in fact offer much better benefits than others. Target, for example, offers much better healthcare insurance than Walmart does. This is among one of many boons that Target offers to its employees. It can be argued that Target treats its employees much better than Walmart, including its part-time employees. Why, therefore, is Target not much more popular than Walmart? My answer would be that the average consumer does not care about much except lower prices, and those consumers that do, do not shop at Walmart, which is still the most popular supermarket chain in the US. The consumers who do shop at a different or more expensive chain are therefore in the minority, whether because of morals or lack of choice. Corporations are amoral. They exist solely to make a profit, and nothing else. Compassion does not come into it. Higher standards are, and will expand, if there is consumer interest in them doing so.   Outsourcing definitely applies here. You've seen the self-checkout facilities available at most stores? When there is a way of scanning every product a person has on them before they exit the store as well as a way of preventing them from exiting the store before they've paid for those goods, you can bet anything on almost every cashier in America being fired from the stores that can afford it. We are very, very close to that, in terms of technology alone, let alone deployment.   The US cannot afford to impose tariffs, unfortunately. With every anti-competitive tariff it imposes, exports and imports go down in the billions of dollar ranges. It is not a coincidence that the Eurozone countries who have led the way in tariffs are those you names in your post. In the age of globalisation, everyone can simply go...somewhere else for their needs. The same unfortunately goes for taxes, import premiums, or anything else that you care to name. I agree with you that fighting for labour rights across the world is the only effective answer to that.  But that will of course never happen. When labour rights issues erupt in the country that the majority of the world's manufacturing happens, most corporations will simply stick with it until their position becomes untenable, and then they will move to a different country, where labour laws are not as as strong. China is this generation's manufacturing bitch, who will be next? Because companies are worrying about this already.They are looking at shithole places in India, and places in Brazil, and places in Ghana, or Indonesia, or anywhere else that can be persuaded to educate a proportion of its workforce to the minimum necessary levels. It's sad but, remember that if any thought is applied to this, the people who make the things that Chinese/Indian/Ghanan/Indonesian make for pennies on the dollar is that those people's wages will eventually rise enough that there can be a middle-class, at which point the companies involved simply move on to a country that does not have a middle-class or a higher-working class. Forever. That's...the multinational plan. Capitalism, remember, is a system based on unlimited expansion. It just is. No arguing round that one.    And finally, 'fiscally sensible' means, to me, that a country retreats from the goddamn cliff it's on when it sees that if it carries on this way, it's truly, amazingly fucked. The debt ceiling fiasco earlier nearly plunged the world economy into recession, in spite of the fact that it should have been a done deal, something nobody anywhere got their tits up about. But no. Politicians literally ransomed it for things that they wanted that were kinda contrary to the interests of the US economy at large, and therefore the fucking WORLD economy at large. If the US had defaulted, it would have fairly literally fucked to rest of us. And I mean the other 670,000,000,000 people alive right now. All coz your Republicans didn't like a black guy. What? Barack Obama does things by pretty classical Keynesian economics. By following those tenets, the whole goddamn world enjoyed a period of uninterrupted growth and prosperity from 1948 to about 1970, depending on where you are. Talk to me all you like about Europe's destroyed industry from WW2 but the simple fact is that the maxim of 'save during booms' and 'spend during busts' created more jobs and helped more economies that you can name. Thanks to political expediency, however, and apparently Reagan, the US at large seems to believe that anything even approaching left-wing politics (and for the purposes of this argument that includes healthcare and, y'know, not caring what or who a woman puts up their vagina) is anathema. It simply isn't accepted, and decried as 'socialism' by any opponents. These arguments and these debates literally don't make any fucking sense to the rest of us. Not even a little bit. Abortion, gay marriage, legalizing marijuana, *NOT* invading other countries. These issues are settled for the vast, vast majority of us. It's fucking insane to us that they aren't for you.   In fairness it is, however, because of your politics that you can't do any of these things. You are a nation of three hundred and fifteen million. It can't be expected of you that you have a consensus on these issues. But what gets us is that you never fucking try. We have the European Parliament, imperfect though it may be. It still gives us a voice in issues as basic as gay marriage or abortion. We aren't in permanent deadlock over things as unimportant as this.   I don't mean to paint Europe or anywhere else as some kind of paradise. Just that companies in Europe seem to just not care; companies in the US seem to be out to try and actively fuck you.     Quick edit: holy shit that was a long reply, don't bother reading it.   TL;DR: Companies don't give a shit if they fuck you or not unless market conditions


Don't forget to also build up an emergency fund - retirement saving is important, but you don't want to be caught in a situation where you need money for an emergency (lose your job, get hit by a bus, etc.) and it's all locked away in your 401(k).


You have not indicate your country of residence or that of your friend. The fees would depend on this.   Normally within US transfer of funds between paypal acounts is free. Transfering Outside there is a small charge. Further if when you withdraw the money to your bank account there would be a small fee. Refer to When it's free and when there's a fee on Paypal for more details.


No you will have no problems. It's been fourteen years since I've lived in the UK and I've had no trouble with my UK bank accounts in that time. They have happily mailed me statements and new cards abroad for all that time, and I've deposited cheques by mailing them to the branch. Online banking takes care of almost everything else.  The only thing I wasn't able to do from abroad was open a new account, because of anti money-laundering regulations. Even that may be possible if you presented the right kind of ID when you opened the original account - mine predated the regulations. Most UK banks will also offer 'offshore' banking for non-residents in which interest is not deducted at source.


>Oil is important because without it US can't go to war  That's may be a reason but its far from the main one. Without oil the whole economy shuts down instantly. People can't get to work or stores to buy stuff. We can't run diesel peaker plants for electricity demand as easily either (although that's changed some due to natural gas).  We use so much god damn oil that if supply is cut off for a day or two, everything stops. While grain is very important, that doesn't happen with food commodities. We actually grow so much extra food that we turn a lot into oil. If food was short, we'd stop doing that (I hope).  Lastly, we scrutinize it in the media because our main supply is external. A lot comes from Canada sure, but the middle east is a major component of our supply. If those lines are cut off, prices surge. That *used* to hurt us bad because wed have to buy from more expensive sources (offshore, south america, anywhere else really). Now, small bumps in price are helping the US economy because of shale gas production in PA and Ohio. So oil is a very political commodity on the global stage. Look at Venezuela right now with low oil prices cutting off demand for their more costly oil.   TLDR Oil is the feedstock for our economy and its a scarce resource.


I'm not going to tackle the 2nd part of your question, as any number of the questions tagged with international-transfer should cover you on that. There's no way to transfer an ISA into an Australian tax-free savings account, so no need to worry about anything special there. Don't forget that the FX rates change quite a bit over time, and different methods have varying fees, so moving at the wrong time could easily cost you more than the missed interest! For the first part, it depends. One thing you should seriously consider right away is switching your ISA money into one paying a better rate. Check the best-buy tables online or in a paper, as you can get a lot better than 0.1% on a transfer in, even with current depressed rates. At least that way you'll earn more interest while you decide. As for when to transfer, that's something you'll have to calculate for yourself, based on your marginal tax rate, and your view of how the FX rates will shift. If you're a 40% taxpayer, then 2% in an ISA is worth the same to you as 3.3% gross. Don't forget to consider both your UK and Australian tax rates in the year you move, as most likely you'll have to pay the higher of the two. The westpac rate looks like you might struggle to beat a decent ISA over the course of a year, were you a higher rate tax payer. Oh, and don't forget that you'll likely loose the tax-free status of your ISA once you're an Australian tax resident, so you'll need to start paying tax on interest earnt in the ISA once you're out there.


Yes. it is possible, I have seen many times banks permitting overdrawing and later charging a high courtesy fees. Of course in many countries this is not permitted. In one of my account, I am running negative balance as the bank has charged its commission which is not due.


Even the most basic knowhow when it comes to household plumbing can seem like such a complex maze for the uninitiated, which is why renowned experts for plumbing in Saskatoon, like the folks from Perfection Plumbing & Drain Cleaning, are eager to lend homeowners a hand.


Donations need to be with no strings attached. In this case, you make the cash donation, a deduction, and then they pay you, in taxable income. It's a wash. Why not just give them the service for free? Otherwise this is just money going back and forth.


Try to get a second card in your business' name, with a separate card number (like you would get one for a spouse). They may or may not allow that free (you wouldn't want to pay a second fee), and it might be only possible with the second card bearing the same number, which makes it useless. But it is worth a try.


I may be hyperbolic here, but I get the feeling that Bezos, at the end of the day, wants to own me & my family. Soon no one will be able to spend a day without using or buying from one of his businesses. Also, how was this and the Whole Foods deal kept so quiet?


I second this. You should be able to keep them in place. As far as I know, you can leave the HSA funds with the existing administrator indefinitely, unlike a 401k. I'm not certain of that rule, but I think that is accurate. It is possible the current administrator may include a maintenance fee or something, so watch it.  I left my employer 4 months ago and have kept my HSA with the same administrator. I don't recall hearing anything in the exit paperwork about a requirement to move, I haven't received anything in the mail telling me to move it, nor have any fees or other charges been implemented that would cause me to move.


Google inquiries (Auto-propose) – Content can be made in view of the prerequisite and web crawlers give enough choices to individuals to locate the correct catchphrases with the assistance of Dubai local seo master. You can presumably pay special mind to a watchword by writing a specific expression on the Google look box. Google inquiries are a standout amongst other alternatives, which can be comprehended by anyone chipping away at an article or a blog. Google auto-propose instrument is generally utilized by SEO organizations in UAE, where they can check by setting their undeniable catchphrases to check for the auto-recommended watchwords.


>Any one of those could have been a winner.  There's a bit of genetic variation in sperm, thanks to recombination, but ultimately it all comes down to what your father got from his own mom and dad. So, basically, when your mother picked your dad, she also picked her in-laws, and thus restricted the range of possible sperm outcomes.


"Every company with a ""Strong Culture"" Ie Office bars and happy hours, nap rooms, pool tables, zen/mediating rooms, etc,etc seem to be the most successful. Its unfortunate that they people pay for no work/life balance... but at least they get to get drunk in the office..."


Many in this thread appear to have little knowledge about the history of anti-trust law in the US. 50 years ago it would be inconceivable for any one firm to have as much market dominance as any of these 3. We need a rethinking of anti-trust law that properly addresses internet monopolies.   If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend this paper by Lina Khan on Amazon's market dominance and anti trust: https://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/e.710.Khan.805_zuvfyyeh.pdf  Barry Lynn and the Open Markets Institute are doing great research here as well.


Bokföring, kvittoredovisning, fakturering och lönehantering har aldrig varit enklare. Som kund hos oss får du tillgång till ett av branschens, i vårt tycke, bästa digitala verktyg för bokföring online som passar alla bolagsformer. Allt samlat i en lättillgänglig app. Vi finns självklart till hands för att ge support i hur du använder verktygen. http://fortner.se/redovisning-och-bokf%C3%B6ring-app/


There are articles around about Netflix's content strategy and what you describe is exactly their goal. Take risks, get amazing content but also many failed experiments. If my memory isn't too bad, they were aiming to cancel 80% of their new shows after one season. Netflix's infrastructure allows them to determine if a show is successful instantly, they don't need 3rd party surveys to know how many people watched a show.


"Outside of broadly hedging interest rate risk as I mentioned in my other answer, there may be a way that you could do what you are asking more directly: You may be able to commit to purchasing a house/condo in a pre-construction phase, where your bank may be willing to lock in a mortgage for you at today's rates. The mortgage wouldn't actually be required until you take ownership from the builder, but the rates would be set in advance. Some caveats for this approach: (1) You would need to know the house/condo you want to move into in advance, and you would be committing to that move today. (2) The bank may not be willing to commit to rates that far in advance. (3) Construction would likely take far less than 5 years, unless you are buying a condo (which is the reason I mention condos specifically). (4) You are also committing to the price you are paying for your property. This hedges you somewhat against price fluctuation in your future area, but because you currently own property, you are already somewhat hedged against property price fluctuation, meaning this is taking on additional risk. The 'savings' associated with this plan as they relate to your original question (which are really just hedging against interest rate fluctuations) are far outweighed by the external pros and cons associated with buying property in advance like this. By that I mean - if it was something else you were already considering, this might be a (small) tick in the ""Pro"" column, but otherwise is far too committal / complex to be considered for interest rate hedging on its own."


Supplier of talc powder in India http://quartzpowdermanufacturers.com/supplier-of-talc-powder-in-india.php Shri Vinayak Industries-Though we manufacture our talc product and other mineral products in India, we supply and export our Talc products chiefly to Vietnam, South Korea, UAE, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia. We Inquire and place order immediately hence always complete delivery on time. We have well packaged Talcum Powder ready stock for sale.


">According to the article, I think the operative word is ""train,"" not ""push.""  Or ""gain job experience"".  >Another thing that I did not see this article address is that there really is no loyalty within companies any more. Companies view people as a commodity (but yet don't believe in the free market principle surrounding a commodity), instead of treating people as a resource. **Hence people are ready to walk away when they spot a better opportunity.**  People shouldn't be viewed as *either* a ""resource"" (to be exploited) or as a ""commodity"" (to be sourced/discarded) -- rather any *intelligent and KNOWLEDGABLE manager* (basically meaning NOT an academically trained MBA type) will realize that he is building a TEAM, and that people ARE the business -- no factory, however ""automated"" will EVER run itself without at least SOME highly skilled people who know how the whole operation works (and where it *doesn't work* and needs watching/tweaking); and even more so with other businesses. Systematizing things is great, documenting processes is good, but none of those things can replace a solid person who knows the operation.  And, I have always LOL'ed at the irony of companies who want to ""hire from their competitors"" -- but then somehow believe that their competitors aren't going to do the same to them (and even want to cry ""foul"" when it does happen).  The idiocy... it's palpable.  ---  Likewise, as the author/speaker identifies with the ""applicant screening software"" built on top of what at least used to be called an ""expert system"" -- this reveals that crafting such a system is a LOT more difficult than many imagine (and the error is really in the ""requirements"" and specification than merely the programming), and that rather than an ""expert"" system, what you are more likely to end up with is an ""idiocy system"" that creates an even worse problem.  So anyone claiming a ""skills gap"" and that they cannot find good people (especially in THIS economy) -- is just proving themselves to be a prime example of a failure of management."


">Sorry... I'm a software engineer not an academic.  From the way you have viewed things -- that everything can be measured by quantity -- you are in fact coming from an ""academic"" perspective (the same as the ""idiot manager"" MBA's).  >My assumption is that you can measure things like average throughput on a checkout line, or number of widgets assembled on an assembly line (and possibly the defect rate of those widgets), or pounds of fries dumped in the trash because they got cold before being served relative to fries served. Is this not the case?  No, it is not the case; certainly not as you seem to imagine it.  A single fast food worker does not simply stand in front of the french fry vats making fries all day long, and the metric of the ""fries dumped in the trash because they got cold before being served relative to fries served"" is used in the management of the overall operation (how many fries to make and when); *but they are emphatically NOT used as a 'performance measure' for the general workers (how could  they be, the worker does not decide how many fries to make, the 'system' and the shift manager makes those decisions.*  Likewise with the ""number of widgets assembly on the assembly line"" -- again the defect rate is known (and typically only varies when something major has gone wrong with one of the machines/processes) -- seldom is the actual worker responsible for anything major as far as defects (people with QA responsibilities might be ""thumped"" for failing to catch a bad batch -- a signal that they are likely simply NOT doing their job at all, rather than the quality of work). But the actual quantities produced are a matter of scheduling & planning via MRP systems (aka or MRP II and ERP).  So, as I said... your ignorance (which has then turned into arrogance) is showing.  >In my field we measure things like the change in average time to launch, or the revenue impact of features, or the change in performance metrics, etc.   LOL.  The attempts to measure software engineering are among the ""most failed"" category of performance measurement.  Everyone in management basically keeps repeating the same stupid mistakes that were already proven worthless in prior iterations.  >They're all proxy measurements though. Poor performers are generally much easier to spot than high performers. Mediocre performers can generally get through things, but may not earn promotions etc.  Don't kid yourself. Poor performers in terms of actual quality & quantity of code will often still be promoted for several ""political"" reasons; they are probably better at ""managing up"" than the better coders are (IOW, they suck up to the ""idiot manager MBA"" boss better, regurgitate the latest party line of buzzwords/phrases on a regular basis, are not seen as ""troublesome"" {adamant/insistent on quality or consistency} and are seen as ""team players"", etc.)  About the only ""poor performers"" that will be easily spotted are those who are totally incompetent/unqualified -- and really, they are an indication of poor management in that they should never have been hired in the first place.  And the true ""high performers"" in software are in fact fairly easy to spot -- provided you know what to look for (and don't get caught up in ridiculously inane and worthless proxy performance metrics -- which are all too often ""how well/often did you kiss the boss's arse/comply with some meaningless process steps"")."


"I don't see EWQ6 in any of your links, so I can't say for certain, but when you buy an option contract on a future, the option will be for a specific future (and strike).  So the page you're looking at may be for options on E-mini S&P 500 futures in general, and when you actually purchase one through your broker, you pick a specific expiry (which will be based on the ""prompt"" future, meaning the next future that expires after the option) and strike. UPDATE: Based on this page mirror, the option EWQ7 is an option on the ESU7 (SEP 2017) future.  The next 3 monthly options use ESZ7 as the underlier, which confirms that they use the next prompt future as the underlier."


Tell your broker.  You can usually opt to have certain positions be FIFO and others LIFO.  Definitely possible with Interactive Brokers.


Don't know about rest of the world but oat based milk products (yoghurt, milk, cream, anything) and other similar plant based products (soy being biggest) are currently a huge trend here in Finland. Their major consumers are urban folk (more expensive than regular milk) but it is spreading across the country


The issue is should you get one large policy or several smaller policies. Multiple polices have flexibility becasue if the need goes away you can drop the policy. The problem with multiple small policies is that there is overhead that you pay for multiple times. Assume that you want 100K coverage and are age x. That policy will cost you a certain amount based on a base amount plus a percentage of the coverage. The percentage is based on age, sex, smoking, health. If you double the coverage the price doesn't double becasue the base amount is constant. This base amount covers the cost of setting up your policy and maintaining the records and billing.  Keep in mind that the coverage you are asking about is not the mortgage insurance the lender makes you purchase when you have a small down payment. You are asking about a policy to cover your debts and still provide money for survivors. Go with your current agent company and ask them to run the numbers: new additional policy, increasing amount of current policy. Go with what meets your needs. Buying a house is one of those life events where you should review your insurance and retirement needs, and adjust accordingly.


Disney is an extortion racket and has been for a long time. They're the reason that copyright laws are so messed up, they're trying to claim copyright on clear public works etc......  This is very similar to Apple, or Netflix's arguments with the content producers.  There are now no distribution costs (or relatively none) and Disney believes this is another way they can screw the customer and extort more money for the product. Amazon is innovating and attempting to pass the savings on to the consumer.  This isn't news. Businesses have pricing disputes all the time, and Disney will suffer for this.  Proof is in the pudding, The Beatles didn't exist on iTunes for a long time and the Beatles suffered more than iTunes. People didn't stick with a disc-man or carry any other mobile devices to listen to their legitimate Beatles songs. They just stopped listening or acquired it illegally.  Netflix is still going strong despite missing a LOT of premium content that the producers think netflix can't survive without. They're holding out for a payday that won't happen.  Disney is doing the same. It won't work.


> The study, as far as I can tell, does not adjust for government expenditure.  I think that is unnecessary.  Unless countries with wealth taxes are going into debt faster or slower then the average, the economic stimulus should come out in the wash.


So they're saying that Apache published a security flaw, script kiddies in china started scanning populare sites for an opening, and they found the hole in equifax.  They then spent **months** exploring it, before they sold the opening to another unnamed group who exploited it.  Why would anyone jump to a conclusion that it was state sponsored?   > some investigators inside Equifax   Ohh... This is just an internal group trying ot justify the company's massive fuck-up.  Okay. Got it.


"I'm 25, make ~40k/yr, have about 18k in investments right now.  all money I've earned mind you.  I sold some stock last year for a capital gain of 1800.  that's a cap gains tax of $270, if the cap gains tax didn't exist I would have paid 450.  that's an extra $180 in taxes that hits me right in my middle class, trying to build a nest egg, guts.  would you please stop with all the bullshit about the capital gains taxes being there for the ""moneyed elite""  you can see how just a small sale could have incurred extra taxes for me, could you imagine someone who may be older and has larger gains to report?"


Your plan sounds quite sound to me.  I think that between the choices of [$800 for Loans, $300 for Retirement] and [$1100 for loans], both are good choices and you aren't going to go wrong either way.   Some of the factors you might want to consider: I like your retirement savings choices - I myself use the admiral version of VOO, plus a slightly specialized but still large ETF that allows me to do a bit of shifting.  Having something that's at least a bit counter-market can be helpful for balancing (so something that will be going up some when the market overall is down some); I wouldn't necessarily do bonds at your age, but international markets are good for that, or a stock ETF that's more stable than the overall market.  If you're using Vanguard, look at the minimums for buying Admiral shares (usually a few grand) and aim to get those if possible, as they have significantly lower fees - though VOO seems to pretty much tie the admiral version (VFIAX) so in that case it may not matter so much. As far as the target retirement funds, you can certainly do those, but I prefer not to; they have somewhat higher (though for Vanguard not crazy high) expense ratios.  Realistically you can do the same yourself quite easily.


The roofing situation is clear.  H2B visas distort the roofing labor market by reducing prevailing wages with lower-paid immigrant labor.  This allows companies to offer products at unnaturally reduced prices.  It would be unrealistic to try and run a business with local US-born labor, that's higher priced.  If your competitors can hire low-priced foreigners, you need to do it too (unless you can somehow find locals at the same price/quality/productivity).  If the H2B labor supply was cut off, then it's likely that no roofing companies could find labor for $17/hr.  They'd have to raise wages, take fewer jobs, or go out of business.  This would raise prices.    Customers wouldn't be happy, but they'd pay the price because they need roof work done.  All vendors prices would go up equally.  This process may take time.  There's a shortage.  Prices go up.  Wages go up.  Jobs become more desirable.  More workers get trained in the field, increasing the supply of labor.  This occurs until the labor supply is back in balance.  On a side note, this particular business owner sounds like they need better marketing.  If prospects want low priced work, they're going to get low-quality results.  If she wants to sell a premium roofing product, she needs to differentiate it from everyone else.  No customer spends more money just to support someone else's employees.  If she can only get penny-pinching customers, she needs to do penny-pinching work.


I would say it's all relative. Take the following two scenarios: If you were facing these options, would you chose #2 just because you pay a lower tax rate, even though you make less money? These numbers are of course fictional, but the point I'm trying to make is that everyone will seek the method that allows them to make the most money. If they have to pay a higher tax rate, so be it. One other thought: daytraders will have higher expenses, which are deductible.


> One is whether prices are correlated to each other for long periods of time as a preliminary study suggested (which would go against efficient markets hypothesis, since you could use that info to game the market) or if that result is illusory and the long term returns are close to a standard normal distribution which would follow the effiecient markets hypo.  The fascinating thing about this is that the returns themselves show no correlation at all (at any time scale), but the *absolute* returns do.  i.e. following a sharp rise/drop in price, you can predict that a sharp rise/drop is likely to follow, you just can't say in which direction.  And this effect carries over for long periods.  Given that by the central limit theorem the sum of identically distributed random variables converges to a gaussian, leads one to think that short term returns *ought* to be gaussian also.  However, they're not.  Evidently there is something very subtle going on.


Square prices are hard to beat for a small operation. I've looked around when I was considering starting up a business, and they're definitely one of the cheapest. Paypal are the second best, but I do not trust Paypal in general. However, looking locally may provide you some more options. If you walk in to one of the local banks, you may be able to get offers for merchant accounts with better rate, depending on your relationships with that bank. You can also check out Costco merchant services, they seem to be quite competitive with the rates, but there may be other costs (they will probably charge more for equipment).


Hey, not really related, but could I ask you some questions through PM? I'm a rising junior majoring in finance and minoring in stats with interests in corporate banking/credit risk, but I'm really interested in the buy-side work you do/your dealflow experience/industry expertise/analyst experience before Associate


Buy a foam chair for your child then bring it home and find out she can't sit in it?  Buy a dish set then discover your wife already bought one and didn't tell you?  Buy a bunch of hooks then discover after opening the first they won't work for your application?  Three examples off the top of my head. There are LOTS of other situations.


Assuming I only use it to buy things I can afford (which I trust   myself to do), essentially treating it as a debit card, is this a good   idea? This is definitely a good idea. From my own experience, before I got my first credit card through my local bank (age 18), I tired to apply for a card that has cash back rewards and was rejected because I didn't have any credit history. After I had the card from my bank for 6 months, I applied for this Capital One card that I've had ever since.


"You should read a bit about what ""national treatment"" means in a trade context. It means treat the company exactly as you would if they were local to you. For example, if a US company wants to do business in your country, you must let them in if they are the low bidder on the job. *And vice versa*. Most importantly, you cant just give people jobs because they are locals. Even in areas like teaching and healthcare.  Have you ever heard [of TISA?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_pPqnbXpA4)"


I am not sure how they do it in the Nordic countries, but here in the US a lot of company owners like myself are taxed through the corporation. So in effect, raising taxes on corporations is the same as raising taxes on the business owner. That being said, I kind of agree with the sentiment of the article. If you lower taxes on me and my company, that money is going into savings. That money isn't going to be reinvested. Our budget is where our reinvestment comes from, not extra cash at the end of the year.


I wouldn't recommend paying off the debts.  Both are low-interest tax-deductible loans that you've been handling well enough to have significant savings, and you can likely earn a higher interest rate by investing than you could by paying down the debt.  Putting your money into vanguard ETFs or a betterment account will likely be better in the long run.


You can borrow against a 401k for 5 years. This defers any penalty fees that the IRS mandates. Put the cash back in your 401k within those 5 years. you can also solo administer 401k plans even if you have an unincorporated business, so you can start one of those if you have any other form of cashflow, and there may be a way to get the other plan rolled into your solo one.  http://www.irs.gov/publications/p560/ch04.html#en_US_publink10009053


There goes that myth again, that Ford paid his workers well out of the goodness of his heart.  [This article](http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/04/the-story-of-henry-fords-5-a-day-wages-its-not-what-you-think/) looks into the actual reason early Ford workers were paid well, which was primarily to cut the massive turnover rate of overworked employees, and the costs of retraining new hires.


You really need to calm down. Theres no need to get angry over some useless post on the internet.   Are you saying that if the government took away apple products, the people would overthrow the government or riot or something along that line ? Because if thats true, thats quite pathetic.  The government could also just ban apple from selling its products while still manufacturing them in the country or just block the app store. The government knows what power it has and apple has to keep in line to be able to keep doing business there.  For someone living in china, you really dont seem to see that. And hundreds of factories ? dozens maybe, not hundreds.  Also your english is very good. Kudos.


Well, there's a lot more poor people entering the market than there are rich people, err I mean job creators !  So the job creators have more choice to pick the lowest bidding supplier, causing all the poor people to try and undercut each other.  Eventually, all the poor people will have jobs and incomes will stop going down. Let's just hope we're not eating bread made with sawdust by then.


> all the ports for slave trade were on the far West horn  There was an eastern slave trade as well which was actually much larger than the western slave trade.  There were several ports for the slave trade up and down the entire eastern side of Africa.  Regardless, a better analogy would have been Madagascar.  When Africans first settled there in ~1000AD, they ran into a native population (originally from SE Asia) similar to how the Europeans ran into Native Americans.  Now, Madagascar may be doing slightly better than Zimbabwe, but it's still doing pretty poorly.


"What you are looking for is a Money Coach or a Personal Finance Coach. From mymoneycoach.com: ""Money Coach: Everyone uses money, but few people fully understand how to use it wisely. To be debt free and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle takes special skills. Money coaches provide solutions for household budgeting, investing, using credit wisely, and saving for retirement. With the principles offered by a money coach, you can live the life you want to live."" Usually money coaches or personal finance coaches will not tell you ""you should put your money here or there"" but instead they will work with you to identify and correct bad money behaviours that affect more than just your investments, and they will not sell you anything. Maybe you could take a look at some coaches in your area, but a lot of them work via the internet too. Good luck!"


If it was me, I'd wait until/if you get contacted again by the collection agency.  Once you do, I'd offer to settle for less.  Perhaps 1000-1250 to start, and I would not go any higher than 2K.  Get it in writing that this settles your debt in full, and do not give them direct access to your checking account. You can pay them by certified check or with a prepaid credit card or something.  If you do the latter, throw that prepaid card away, and never use it again. You may also try to get them to agree that you do not owe the full 5K, and again get that in writing.  Otherwise, you will be 1099'd for the difference between it and the amount you settle and therefore it will be treated as income.  I'd stick 2k in a bank account for a while, perhaps two years, and you are free to use the remaining 3K to meet other goals.  After two years, I would check my credit and see if it is still in the report.  You might also choose to dispute the collection and see what happens there.  If it is successful it will come off your report. Prior to a big credit decision (aka buying a home), I would check on the status of this collection.  Only at that time would I contact that collection agency and again try to settle.  If I contacted them, I would start the negotiations around 500 or so.


"I agree. Its ridiculous.  The US refuses to alter its uncompetitive corporate tax rate and laws on cash repatriation and what is the response?  Blame companies for being ""unpatriotic"" and have politicians shame them in the media.  It's been going on for decades and hasn't worked yet."