Will Having a 529 Plan for My Child Impact His/Her Eligibility For Financial Aid in the Future?
It will be factored in when considering financial aid eligibility. Unfortunately, having a 529 Plan may affect your child’s eligibility for financial aid in the future. If a parent owns the account, in 2016 the financial aid office will take 5.64% of the account’s value (and all other non-retirement investment accounts) into consideration when determining how much financial aid a student can receive. Continue reading...
What is IRS Publication 513, Tax Information for Visitors to the United States?
IRS Link to Reporting Guidelines — Found Here Despite how it sounds, this publication is not meant for tourists to the US, but rather for non-US-citizen workers who might be considered either resident aliens or nonresident aliens, or dual-status if they can be considered both within the same year. Non resident aliens do not have to file a return if they did not earn more than the standard annual deduction amount. This guide is relatively short by IRS Publication standards, at only about 20 pages. Continue reading...
How Will Ethereum Scale?
With cryptocurrencies, there is always a question of how the blockchain will scale as technology changes and the currency grows in demand. Blockchains are meant to be immutable, meaning that once a change has been made to it, such as the data for a particular transaction, the record of the transaction cannot be changed or forgotten. This means that, for one thing, the distributed ledger that holds the record of all the transactions will inevitably get larger and larger, and any computer that wishes to be a node may have to download a potential cumbersome file with all that data. Continue reading...
What is the Rising Wedge (Bullish) Pattern?
The Rising Wedge pattern forms when prices seem to be spiraling upward, and two upward sloping trend lines are created with the price hitting higher highs (1, 3, 5) and higher lows (2,4). The two pattern lines intersect to form an upward sloping triangle. Unlike Ascending Triangle patterns, however, both lines need to have a distinct upward slope, with the bottom line having a steeper slope. This pattern is commonly associated with directionless markets, since the contraction (narrowing) of the market range signals that neither bulls nor bears are in control. However, there is a distinct possibility that market participants will either pour in or sell out, and the price can move up or down with big volumes (leading up to the breakout). Continue reading...
What is GAAP?
Freddie Mac is a government-sponsored company which purchases mortgages from banks and securitizes them for sales to investment banks or individuals. Freddie Mac is not a government organization, but was established by a congressional mandate in the 1970’s. It’s proper name is the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC). The company’s purpose is to make mortgage debts into marketable securities by purchasing the mortgage risk and cash flow from banks and dividing into tranches which are sold to or through investment banking institutions. The securitized mortgages are known as Collateralized Mortgage Obligations, or CMO’s. Continue reading...
What is Cash Flow-to-Debt Ratio?
Comparing operating cash flow to the size of a company’s debt obligations can give investors and analysts an idea of how capable a company is of paying of its debts. This ratio compares the size of a company’s cash flow from operations to the size of its debt, in an effort to get an idea of how capable a company is of paying off its debt obligations, and how long it would take if all cash flow were diverted to debt service. Continue reading...
What is a Jumbo Loan?
A jumbo loan is a mortgage loan that exceeds the conforming loan limits set by the Office of Federal Enterprise Housing Oversight. For borrowers with low debt to income ratios and good credit scores, jumbo loans are often utilized for purchases of larger or luxury homes. Often times jumbo loans are too large in size to be guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and are securitized in other ways. Continue reading...
What is IRS Publication 530, Tax Information for Homeowners?
IRS Link to Publication — Found Here There are many tax questions when it comes to home ownership, mortgages, equity, federal loan programs, selling a home, and so forth. Publication 530 seeks to address all relevant tax information for this large and important financial asset, which is often the largest purchase they will ever make. Homeowners incur expenses for home equity, mortgage interest, private mortgage insurance, improvements and maintenance, and taxes. Much of this can be deducted. Continue reading...
What are futures contracts?
Futures contracts constitute a binding agreement to trade a commodity, share, or instrument at a future date at an agreed-upon price. They are auctioned on regulated futures exchanges. Futures contracts are used primarily to deal with agricultural assets and natural resources but have come into use for anything that can be commoditized, including financial instruments and technological resources. Continue reading...
If I Want to Establish a SEP IRA, Do I Have to Establish One for All Owners of My Business?
If a business owner is a silent partner, and not an employee, they do not need to be included in the SEP IRA. You have to offer SEP IRAs to all of your employees. If the business owners are not employees of the business, you do not need to offer a SEP IRA to them. If you intend to include one partner but not another, you should take care to ensure that whatever criteria you used to define who is eligible in your plan document will hold up to scrutiny. Continue reading...