We often hear about wealthy individuals finding loop holes in the tax system by storing their money in offshore banks. Companies, as legal entities, also have tools to pay less taxes. The corporate tax rate in the US is 35%. But a lot of companies get away with a much lower rate. Below is a graph from focus.com explaining… Read More »
There are lots of great suggestions out there for saving money. One I’ve found particularly useful is making a budget. This post is to help personal finance beginners to think about money, and take control of their own financial situations. A budget is a detailed plan for the formula below. Income – Spending = Savings For more savings we… Read More »
How Margin Accounts Work A reader asked me awhile ago about my margin account. As you know, I like to use leverage. So when I found out I could own stocks without actually paying for the full amount, I began to think about the possibilities, and opened up a margin account through my discount broker. I simply made… Read More »
February was a pretty average month. There were no unexpected expenses and I didn’t overspend on my budget. Starting March, the income for my part-time job will be reduced by half because they’ve cut my hours due to the school’s scheduling. Which means I can spend some extra time sleeping, or doing something equally productive ┐(‘～`；)┌ The big rally… Read More »
Last year I invested heavily into 2 engineering firms. Most of that money went into SNC-Lavalin (SNC.TO) which is in Canada but with projects all over the world. The other is a large German company called Siemens (SI:NYSE.) I chose SNC because of it’s strong balance sheet, large market cap (over $5 billion,) and its long track record… Read More »
It’s Better to Invest than to pay down Mortgage debt Many financial gurus will advise home owners to make lump sum payments on their mortgages and pay them down sooner rather than later. However I worry people may be under estimating the power of opportunity cost. Let’s work through the numbers and look at some facts instead of… Read More »