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

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1500 questions
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6 answers

If I make over 120k a year, what are my options for retirement plans?

I will be starting a job on Monday that yearly will net me in excess of 120k. I know that this income exceeds the maximum earnings for a Roth IRA and I'm sure other things. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to retirement investment, so what are my…
Drew
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What's the proper way to negotiate a job offer's salary?

Say I receive an offer letter from a potential employer. They state clearly the offered salary, and I have a good idea how to value the benefits. With all that, it's less than I'd like. How can I successfully negotiate the salary upwards? How long…
Anonymous
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4 answers

Can I roll over a 401(k) with my current employer into an IRA?

My wife has a 401(k) with her employer that she has been contributing to for years. They recently switched administrators for the 401k, and the new outfit is simply terrible - bad fund choices and outrageous fees. I would like to roll over her…
Eric Petroelje
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19
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6 answers

Why is everyone saying how desperately we need to save money "in this economy"?

Everywhere you turn today, you hear people talk about how much they need to save or how important it is to find a good deal on things "in this economy". They use phrases like "now more than ever" and "in these uncertain times". It seems to be a lot…
Jeffrey
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19
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2 answers

What should I reserve "emergency savings" for?

Should I reserve my "emergency savings" solely for times of unexpected unemployment, or keep these savings flexible enough to cover other unforeseen critical needs?
Sam Erde
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19
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5 answers

How do "allowances" work on the W-4?

When you start a job, you give your employer the W-4 form which figures out your allowances (or deductions). It's just a number. How does that translate into how much they withhold from your paycheck? For example, if I put 1 through 10 in that…
Michael Pryor
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19
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5 answers

Is it normal to have 28.5% of various income taxes deducted from my paycheck?

I just got out of college, still live with the parents (saving up money) been employed for a year in the industry, and got a not bad starting salary. First check I received was shocking, to see 28.5% cut off for Federal + MA State + SS Employee. And…
user10857
19
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5 answers

What is CD laddering and what are its pros and cons?

I've seen the term "CD Laddering". What is this and what are the benefits and risks of doing it?
brainimus
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19
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3 answers

Why would you not want to rollover a previous employer's 401(k) when changing jobs?

Are there any valid reasons to not rollover a former 401(k) when changing jobs? I have several little ones that I never quite got around to rolling together - with an upcoming job change, should they all be combined into my new employer's retirement…
warren
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2 answers

Does high credit utilization, coupled with paying off my balance in full each month, increase my chances of an automatic credit limit increase?

The conventional wisdom I've heard is that spending close to your limit and paying the balance off in full each month will often lead to the credit card company increasing your credit limit automatically. I assumed this was because they expect that…
John Bensin
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19
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2 answers

"Out of Pocket Maximum" and health insurance plan terminology & calculation?

I'm trying to understand the terminology on my health plan. I've read numerous websites, which have only confused me more, as they fail to use examples (more than one should be required) for people trying to understand this tricky terminology. I…
Question3CPO
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Why is the dividend yield on the S&P 500 so low?

Background: The S&P 500 is an index that has consistently grown across many decades. On the other hand, since the 1940s, the dividend yield has been decreasing. It used to be around 6%, while in recent years, it has been around 1.5%. Question: Why…
Tomek Tarczynski
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19
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4 answers

What happens to non-cooperative shareholders when a company goes private?

I own a few shares in some large publicly-traded US company. This company gets acquired and "goes private". Am I required to give up my shares in the acquisition? What if, for whatever reason, I don't want to cooperate? Are my shares still worth…
rlandster
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1 answer

Friend accidentally Venmo'd me rent as a commercial Venmo transaction. What are the tax implications of this?

I pay the full rent to our landlord and my friend sends me his share. When using Venmo, he accidentally ticked the 'goods and services' option which marks it as a commercial transaction. He sent me $725 which is over the $600 IRS limit. I spoke with…
rsn
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FOREX: Pair Trading, What is Really Happening?

I am starting to study FOREX again and one thing about trading on the market through means available to me personally is that one can take positions on 'currency pairs'. This has made little sense to me because I'm looking for some sort of physical…
Burton Samograd
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