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

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1500 questions
21
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4 answers

If I buy a foreclosure at courthouse auction, am I in any way responsible for debt on the property?

I'm looking into purchasing a foreclosure that is being sold by a trustee at a courthouse auction. I did some research on the property (via RealtyTrac), and it seems like there were quite a few loans taken on the property. From the records there…
user379468
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4 answers

Do altcoin trades count as like-kind exchanges? (Deferred capital gains tax)

2018 EDIT: Although this post was inspirational, US Congress addressed this issue in the Tax Reform law of 2017, and any trades after Jan 1st 2018 cannot have this treatment. The few years of ambiguity from the existence of altcoins to the law…
CQM
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21
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3 answers

Bought agency bond (FANNIE MAE 0% 04/08/2027), now what?

I just bought 15 of these for $10,677 through my brokerage firm. It says 3.3% interest. I have no idea how this works. But I trust it is gov bond and will pay 3.3%. Can anyone explain how it works? Will it pay interest annually or every 6…
Tony
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2 answers

How to know if two ETFs are 'substantially identical' according to wash sale rules?

Wash sale rules are pretty straight forward when you're trading stocks directly. However, how are these rules applied to ETFs? Right now I own shares of CMF and want to do some tax-harvesting on some of my short-term losses for 2016. I want to…
user19035
21
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8 answers

How to motivate young people to save money

How do I motivate young people (millennials) who just started earning to save and also the importance of savings? Should I focus on retirement? Wealth creation? Financial independence? Something else?
gopi1410
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7 answers

Are credit cards not viewed as credit until you miss one payment?

I have recently been trying to improve my credit score in hopes of getting a good/better mortgage here in a few months when I become a first time home buyer. My father has been helping me by doing some research on his own too. He said he spoke with…
KDecker
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2 answers

I gave a scammer my telephone number, address, and name. How bad is it?

Updated question because old one was embarassing: I saw a spam email from "PayPal" and I didn't realize that it was a phishing attempt. I gave the phishing site my name, telephone number, and email. What could he do with them? Old question: Well, I…
MrColdfish
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9 answers

Is this investment opportunity problematic?

I recently got an email from a close friend of mine, that goes something like this: We're looking to sell our rental house and buy a new one. We found one we like, but the housing market is very hot right now and it's not likely to be on the…
Mason Wheeler
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6 answers

Can a shareholder be liable in case of bankruptcy of one of the companies he invested in?

I know it's a silly question before I ask but let's ask it anyway: Let's say that X buys 10 shares of a public company Y in the stock market. Let's also assume that Y, at some point, goes bust while X still owns the 10 shares. Can X, along with the…
nourdine
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21
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3 answers

Buying shares in a company after you quit

US law dictates that you cannot buy / sell shares in a company you work for except during open trading windows. I understand lockout periods when you're in a company but what about after you quit? If I were to no longer work for a company can I buy…
Tai
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21
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4 answers

Why do banks insist on allowing transactions without sufficient funds?

Specifically, to a checking account. I have not heard of, in a long time, any bank that will simply decline a charge if there isn't sufficient money. Either by default or even at the customer's specific request. Instead, they let the account go…
iPherian
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21
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6 answers

How safe is a checking account?

I'm 19, and I've been working since high-school. I still live with my parents. All of my money is in a checking account and I often use my Visa card for my purchases. My question is, how safe am I in the event of fraud? Am I covered? Should I open a…
Willy Goat
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3 answers

If I create software that can identify and predict insider trading, and I use that to trade, am I insider trading?

Inspired by this question, and I don't know much about insider trading beyond it. The title pretty much says it all. Let's say I make software that picks up on patterns of insider trading. (For example, short sales that happen just before big news…
progressiveCavemen
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21
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5 answers

What is insider trading exactly?

I know that insider trading is illegal. However, is it true that the CEO of a listed company can still buy/sell their own stock? If he/she does so, isn't that technically insider trading? Or why is it different? Even if people directly working for…
kpt8
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7 answers

Why do some online stores not ask for the 3-digit code on the back of my credit card?

How is it that some e-commerce stores are able to process credit card transactions without getting the 3 (or 4-) -digit security code from the back of my credit card? What value does this code add if it's optional in the end?
matt b
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