Reinke Faces Life

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start investing

QUESTION

Asked by “barteq007”

How do I start investing?

I would like to get into the whole investing thing, however, have very little experience and not too many resources. I would like to start up with about $3000, so I don’t know if it’s even worth getting into stocks, funds or similar?

First of all which broker should I go to? Will they help me with making decision on where to invest? I live in Chicago and work right in the loop so there is abundance of different companies, I’m just afraid of even walking into their office and being so inexperienced… Are they dealing with people like me, or are they interested only in people who have hundreds or thousands?

Should I get into the internet broker companies like E-Trade or Ameritrade or it’s not a good idea for a newbie?
Also how much on average are relatively good and safe stocks and how much can I potentially earn/loose on them? Also how much professional companies like Charles Shwab will charge me for trades or advices – will those fees be covered by potential stock gains? BIG THANKS!

ANSWER

Dear “barteq007”:

Well, with no experience, take your 3k$, fold it in half, and put it your pocket. See you just doubled your money. Sorry it’s an old wall street joke. But seriously, there are so many ways to lose your money, please evaluate all advice, even mine, for suitability to you.

Let me make sure I understand your question, you’ve got a stake and what to get into “investing”. You’ve inquired about brokerages in Chicago. And, internet alternatives.

First, stop and take a deep breath. Running into anything, without a thorough understanding of what your getting into, will likely end badly. So please resolve to make haste slowly.

Second, time for some “education”. Below I’ve cited Suzzie Orman and Dave Ramsey for the emotional issues about investing. Also Bob Brinker’s site has an excellent reading list. Finally, for the immediate investing, look into all that credit unions have to offer.

Third, you’ll have to decide if you really want a brokerage account to buy and sell stuff or if you will use mutual funds. I always point people to Vanguard in Philly and on the net http://www.vanguard.com as the exemplar without equal of low cost mutual funds. It’s really hard to go wrong with them.

So to sum up, 3k$ isn’t a lot. No doubt it’s a lot to you. But in Wall Street terms, it’s tiny. If you said you had 3M$, my advice would be the same except louder. 3k or 3M, “investing” can cost you a lot of money from mistakes. So, don’t do anything, until you collect a lot more info.

Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog may have helpful “stuff”.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

SOURCE

http://www.creditunion.coop/
http://www.suzeorman.com/
http://www.daveramsey.com/
http://www.ftc.gov/
http://www.sec.gov
http://www.bobbrinker.com/books.asp
http://tinyurl.com/lxu93
http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/…

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Update: Selected best by voters

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payment from a deadbeat

QUESTION

Asked by “euroteacher0”

Try to get payments from a student or give up?

I teach private lessons and have a student that is 3 months late on paying me for the lessons. I know, you’re thinking why did I let her go 3 months without paying, but she’s a member of the Mormon church that I sometimes go to and thought she’d be reliable. Anyway, she stopped taking lessons, hasn’t paid, won’t respond to my emails or phone calls, and the only time I did get through to her, she was on a trip to the mormon temple and said she’d pay me when she got back (ie she can go on temple trips but she can’t afford to pay me.) I’m getting to the point where I want to write her a nasty email but perhaps it’s just better to let it go and count my losses…

ANSWER

Dear “euroteacher0”:

Well, getting money out of a deadbeat is often compared to getting blood out of a stone. Frankly, I think the stone is easier.

Let me make sure I understand the question. You have a deadbeat student of an undescribed age. This person owes you an unenumerated amount of money. You think she’s a Mormon. But, she’s not acting like any Mormon I’ve ever heard about. And, you’ve tried to collect nicely. But are up to launching a nasty email. Is that about right. (All subsequent advice rests on these assumptions.)

How much is involved? Not the specific amount, but does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? Have you ever heard of the concept of a Pyrrhic Victory? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory

Be careful you don’t fall afoul of some federal or state law in attempting to collect this debt. See the ftc site cited.

On the other hand, no one likes to be taken advantage of. So let’s do some self-examination of our own state of affairs. Now I’m no Judge Judy — not a lawyer — nor do I play one on TV, but do you have a contract? How will you prove by a preponderance of the evidence that you have a valid claim? Is this person over 18 or 21? If you have no contract, you really have no case. imho.

Assuming you have no written contract, then my suggestion is to regard this as tuition in the school of hard knocks. You should get a lawyer to draw you up a contract for ALL students going forward. You should also change your payment terms. CIA (Cash in advance) is good. Certainly, a credit hold policy, no lessons if you’re in arrears. Good customers can go bad, but I’d cut good old customers a little slack. I think you have to be harder on yourself, no more nice guy.

Assuming that you DO have a written contract, then you have to decide if it is worth the time, money, and attention to enforce it. If it’s big buck or you need it to eat, then go to Small Claim Court.

I’d caution you, if you don’t have a written contract, to be careful what you say or write. You could get hooked for slander or defamation. That could be expensive.

Even if you don’t have a written contract, and if you are sure that she’s a Mormon, and assuming that you need the money or want to teach her a life lesson, then I would very carefully consider approaching the Mormon Church Hierarchy. I’d seek out one of their Bishops and ask him to mediate the dispute. I’d call it a misunderstanding. I’d reign in all the assertions and stick to the facts. You gave this Mormon lessons believing that Mormons were scrupulously honest. Be prepared you may find that this person is not a Mormon. I’d try to use the power of their community to settle the matter to everyone satisfaction.

I’d forget about nasty emails because they can be used against you in court. All emails you be personal and sad (i.e., I’m sorry that we have this disagreement, but I need to eat.)

Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog may have helpful “stuff”.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

SOURCE
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.shtm

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UPDATE

Best answer by voters. Err, vote! One vote among one choice. Some choice!

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Save the house?

QUESTION

Asked by “miss_spunderella”

Can someone PLEASE help us come up with ways to earn $15,000 so our house doesn’t get auctioned off?

We fell behind in our payments and our house is going up for forclosure in August. We are a family of six now and are happy in our home. with the struggles of school, work and availability for a babysitter, things have been more than we could manage. plus no male to help with the burden. We can work with someone on a private auto loan, or any kind of possible opportunities you can suggest. We are now employed and have a live in babysitter to help, so the loan will be re-paid promptly. PLEASE help with ideas, and possibilities so we are able to keep our home.

ANSWER

Dear “miss_spunderella”:

Well, losing one’s home is no joke. Coming to Yahoo Answers means you’ll have to take ALL advice, especially mine, with a large grain of NaCl.

As, I understand the gist, you’re behind in your mortgage payments and are at risk of foreclosure. Did you get a foreclosure notice from the lender? You need an attorney, a cpa, and a counselor to help you get thru this.

Assuming, a big assumption, that you hit a temporary bump in the road, and can NOW afford your payments. Your lawyer can help you get straight with the lender. No lender WANTS to foreclose. You may have legal rights to slow the process down and make it attractive to the lender to “cooperate”. Your accountant can help you understand what goes in, what goes out, and get you organized to avoid this in the future. A counselor can help you with the emotional roller coaster thru the processes. Your local social service agency may be able to help you with a grant or loan to keep you from getting throw out on the street and being homeless.

Assuming, again big assumption, that you just need some interim financing, say to overcome some unemployment, I’d aim you at your local bank, a credit union (the website to find a local one is below), and the PROSPER website (i.e., they mediate people to people loans; website below).

Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog may have helpful “stuff”.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

SOURCES

http://prosper.com/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/09/eveningnews/main2457400.shtml
http://www.creditunionsonline.com/
http://tinyurl.com/lxu93
http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/…

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UPDATE: Chosen best by voters. One vote between eight answers. Ten points!

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Payoff Credit Card

QUESTION

Asked by “Jessica B”

How do I pay off my credit card? I work full time and just cant get ahead..?

I need to pay off my credit card and I have tried not using them.. paying on time.. etc. etc. I dont want to take out a loan to pay them off bc Im trying to save up for a car. I work full time, and go to school. Should I get another job. It just feels like I can never get ahead.. Any help would be loved! Thanks.

ANSWER

Dear “Jessica B”:

Well the credit cards don’t want you to get “ahead”. They’d like you to keep paying the 18 to 30% interest for the next 30 years. Credit cards are the quicksand of the financial world. If you struggle, you’ve drowned. If you relax and go with the flow, you can swim out of it.

Just so I understand, you have one or more credit cards and you feel like you can never catch up. Well, I’m no Suzzie Orman or Dave Ramsey, but fell into the same trap when I was young a long time ago. So, I got out of it and you can too.

Here’s a suggestion and some thoughts.

Suggestion: Find a credit union. Then drop by and chat. They are very nice people who have a different mission from a bank. They want members; not interest charges.

If you think that you can’t escape, you can’t. The credit card company minimum payments will get you free and clear in forty years.

You need to know EXACTLY what you are spending every penny on. Get a little book at Staples for a few bucks. They have a cheap brown stitched one with a column for figures. AND, record every expense. (You can also transcribe it to a check book program like Ace Money Lite http://www.mechcad.net/products/acemoney/index_lite.shtml (It’s free!) to manage your budget.

Then for every expenditure, ask do I really really really need it? Then, try a do without it. The daily expenditures for coffee and paper add up.

Take a look at the sites in my sources for further thoughts.

You can do it. I have confidence in you. Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog has other helpful “stuff”.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

SOURCE

http://www.creditunion.coop/
http://www.suzeorman.com/
http://www.daveramsey.com/
http://www.ftc.gov/
https://reinkefaceslife.com/2007/05/16/yahoo-answer-credit-unions-good-for-car-loans-not-good-great/
https://reinkefaceslife.com/2007/06/19/yahoo-answer-car-loan-to-credit-card/

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Update: Chosen best by one vote among 12 answers. Missed the email?

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Car loan to credit card

QUESTION

Asked by “tvman”

Doing a balance? How much $ can I save if?

my balance on my car is 2884.58 at 10.16 %. My c.c. is currently 8.99 % variable (washington mytual). What should I do? How much could I save? I am planning on paying 300 mo. until its paid off or for five months, may have extra cash then.

ANSWER

Dear “tvman”:

Well, “save” would not be a word I use when talking about loans! That’s a joke. I’d reserve the word “save” for when you’re collecting the interest. If for no other reason than to keep your thinking straight. :-)

So, to confirm I understand the opportunity, it APPEARS that 0.1016 minus 0.0899 equals 117 basis point for possible savings.

I’d suspect that they tiny “savings”, what really should be called “cost avoidance”, are illusionary.

First, when car loans are give, they often use a method interest calculation called the “Rule of 72”. Without going into too much detail. You pay the interest more in the front of the loan’s term than the end. It’s like a penalty for prepayment. So, moving from the car loan, may not avoid any interest.

Second, the credit card is variable. You didn’t say what the adjustment interval was AND credit cards have a lot of “spring loaded traps” that can send the interest rate into “orbit”.

SO, I’d recommend NOT transferring. Stay with what you know.

If you want something to ACT on, I’d suggest that you find a credit union to do business with. They can help you shift from “borrowing” to “saving”. Credit Unions don’t use the 72 or any other such trickery; most use daily calculations which are most favorable to the borrower. They do low cost banking with education.

Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog may have helpful “stuff”.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

SOURCE

http://tinyurl.com/3bjcq3
http://www.creditunionsonline.com/…
http://www.aicpa.org/
http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/…

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UPDATE Just notified that this was “Best by Voters. One vote; one answers. Not overwhelming, but I won’t decline the 10 meaningless points.

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currency at the bank

QUESTION

Asked by “walmart3rdshiftnight”

Who work at a suntrust banks!?

How can I get a 100s bills at the bank do I need to give them anything or how get 7 of 20s bills?

I never go to bank so dont no how its work if any female work in a bank and know what people ask for I need know what I need to take with me!!! no one not give me a 100s bills like ATM wont and try my work place and no one can’t unless I have paid walmart to get a 100s bill from them I have to give them 20s to get a 100s is that true??

ANSWER

Dear “walmart3rdshiftnight”:

Well, assuming that this is not a phising attempt to meet “gurls”, or the cute teller a the local Suntrust bank, I can tell you that you need to try a different approach. All you caught is a fat old turkey who thinks every question is worth an answer. And, I get two meaningless points to answer with a possibility of ten for best.

Who works at Suntrust Bank can be answered by shooting over to LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) and running a query. It’s free.

You may have to brake down and go into a bank branch. They are full of nice people who sole job is to make you happy while separating you from your money. Think of it as a strip club without the nakedness or the booze. Seriously, if you have a need to change denominations (5*20=100) (10*10=5*20), most banks will oblige you.

If you are truly a “third shift night worker at wallmart”, then you are getting paid and probably have a paycheck to handle. Take it to your branch bank and, I’ll bet, they can arrange a direct deposit to an account for you. If you’re not into checking accounts, then get a savings account to be your pot of gold.

ATMs don’t usually stock anything but 20’s and 5’s. The Atlantic City casinos have some snazzy ones that will show you on the screen what you put in and give you choices of what you can take out. (No two dollar bills as an output choice!) But the risk there is you may not get out of the casino with your cash.

Rumor hath it that WalMart wants to go into the banking business. So wait awhile and your question may be answered by them.

I’d suggest finding a credit union or a friendly bank and chatting with them. They won’t bite.

Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog may have other helpful “stuff”.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

Webform that creates an urgent email => http://2idi.com/contact/=reinkefj
Web page => http://www.reinke.cc/
My blog => http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/
LinkedIn url => http://www.linkedin.com/in/reinkefj

SOURCE

http://tinyurl.com/lxu93
http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/…

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UPDATE: Chosen best by voters. One vote for one answer.

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dates wrong on application

QUESTION

Asked by “hcj25”

What do you think ?

i messed up on my application and thought i started a job a couple years prior to what i put.So when she called my reference they said i started in 01 but i still had an excellent reference.I was offered this job pending references as an intake coordinator what do you think will this ruin me?
Additional Details

by the way the lady called me back after the reference and question my dates at that job i told her my dates may have been off but i was basically there about 6 years

ANSWER

Dear “hcj25”:

Well, it could be a big deal or a small deal.

You said “intake coordinator”. Depends upon what you are taking in and for whom. Tomatoes for Gristedes, who cares. Little children for the gooferment, everyone might care.

My first take was “honest mistake” or “deliberate lie”? On a government application or some standard application form that’s been xeroxed a grazillion times?

If it’s a gooferment form, does it say anything down at the bottom where you signed about perjury? Did it have to be notarized? Was it “official” like a permit to “intake children”? Then, I’d suggest that you need a lawyer; not Yahoo Answers. If not, then you might be able to apologize your way out.

Assuming that it is NOT, repeat NOT, about perjury, gooferent forms, or something that can get you in a lot of hot water (and that’s a big deal!), I have some thoughts.

I’d forget about it unless it comes up again. (And resolve in the future to fill out all forms as if they were important. Very important.) If it comes up again, apologize profusely, offer to correct the form, and ask what you can do to compensate for making a mistake.

You might want to have some thoughts, about why you made the mistake, in case things get intense. Treat it as a typo. Think about how rushed you were filling it out. Maybe someone said “don’t worry about the exact dates”. Maybe you were interrupted by the interviewer being ready. Get the incident firmly in your mind now in case it becomes urgent.

Then forget about it.

Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. I have jobsearch hints on my blog if you need them.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

SOURCE

http://tinyurl.com/lxu93
http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/…

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