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1500 questions
21
votes
2 answers
Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York -- What is it now? How can I reach them?
My father recently passed away. Among his documents, I found an insurance policy issued by the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York way back in the 1960s. I think that company became MONY. But, MONY apparently no longer exists. I did some…
JeffreyJ
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21
votes
1 answer
What's funny about "He leveraged his @#% deep into soy beans and cocoa futures" in The Jerk (1979)?
Near the end of the comedy The Jerk (1979), a character explains how their family got rich:
Father: All I did was take the money you sent home and embarked on a periodic investment, in a no-load mutual fund.
Taj: He leveraged his ass deep into soy…
Atomic Tripod
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21
votes
9 answers
Does the assumption that all known facts are already priced into the share price assume that most participants of the stock market are well-informed?
It is often assumed that share prices automatically consider all available information since if some market participants have more information that implies that a share is, for example, underpriced, they will buy the share and the price will…
simplemind
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21
votes
5 answers
When a journalist writes "shareholders wiped out" what does this actually mean?
I was reading a newspaper article in the FT where a journalist wrote "shareholders wiped out in restructuring deal". As a novice I'm struggling to conceptualize what "wiped out" means, I tried searching Google but still couldn't really grasp…
troy beckett
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21
votes
1 answer
The Government might have seized my investment assets, how do I treat them on my tax return?
I had money invested in Russia during 2022 through the ETF FLRU. At the beginning of the year when the Russia/Ukraine conflict start the government seized a bunch of Russian assets including this ETF. Now the question is what do I do about these…
Dragon Creature
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21
votes
8 answers
I wrote a check with an unambiguous but casual written amount - why did the recipient's bank reject it for "invalid written amount"?
I wrote a check for 3495.00. For the written amount, I wrote "Thirty four ninety five and 00/100". When the recipient deposited the check, it was rejected due to "invalid written amount", and the recipient was charged a fee.
I know that the most…
mikey555
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21
votes
2 answers
Hotel lost my clothes; sent them to my home; now I am being chased to pay for delivery
I was traveling in Singapore and my hotel lost some of my clothes during cleaning. When I checked out they said they couldn't find them and asked me if I wanted them shipped to me when they found them. I said yes.
I received the clothes via FedEx…
Omroth
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21
votes
7 answers
Why would a loan company deposit a small amount into my account and require I send it back?
Why would a loan company deposit a small amount of money into your account to verify if you are honest about repaying the loan you’re asking for?
They want to deposit a small amount into my account, and then I have to return that money, and they say…
user120367
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21
votes
9 answers
What would be a recommended interest rate for an unsecured loan to individuals with mediocre credit rating and income close to expenses?
I have a friend whose new wife is paying an absurdly high interest rate on her auto loan. They've asked if I was willing to loan them money at a more reasonable rate to pay off that loan and have them pay me back instead. I'm fully aware that…
dsollen
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21
votes
7 answers
How is making a down payment different from getting a smaller loan?
What is the difference between these two things?
$100k loan with $20k down payment to buy a $100k thing
$80k loan with $0 down payment to buy a $100k thing
They seem effectively identical. But in that case, why are down payments even regarded as…
tklodd
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21
votes
5 answers
How do you empty an online virtual debit card?
I have an online virtual debit card which was provided from a company as a refund.
To all intents and purposes, this is indistinguishable from a physical card but I've yet to find anywhere online where I can use for part payment so how to you spend…
Monika
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21
votes
5 answers
When can you skip bonds for retirement?
Conventional wisdom holds that as one approaches retirement, one should transition from holding mostly risky investments (stocks and mutual funds) towards holding more conservative investments (bonds).
This makes sense, since it protects you from a…
codeMonkey
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21
votes
8 answers
Is physical gold inflation-proof?
I always assumed that physical gold is inflation-proof, but my advisor at my bank claimed it is not — unfortunately without going into details. Now I wonder what he meant.
My assumption was: If I buy gold now for $100 and that inflation reduces the…
Demento
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21
votes
3 answers
Automatic payment *after* payment due date: why?
My water bill has an option for automatic payment, which I would like to enroll in (as it would be convenient), but something it mentions about the dates gives me pause: on the page to set it up, it says [emphasis added by me]:
Automatic Payment…
ShreevatsaR
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21
votes
7 answers
Are the HSA and FSA bad deals?
As I understand it, the HSA and FSA accounts are intended to provide individuals with a way of not paying tax on money they spent on healthcare. The individual sets up the account to receive a portion of their income every month, and this portion is…
Melissa P.
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