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Pinyo is the owner and primary blogger of Moolanomy Personal Finance.

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http://www.moolanomy.com/

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Total Points: 156

Questions Asked: 3

Answers Given: 156

Best Answers: 7

Do I qualify for New York unemployment benefits if I have a side business?

Let's assume that I meet all other requirements. Do you know if I am eligible to receive NYS unemployment benefits if income from my side business on average exceed the current maximum weekly benefit rate of $405 per week?

Asked in: Personal Finance - 254 days ago - 1 answers

Is Cash4Gold.com a scam?

I have been hearing about these trading gold for cash places a lot. They make it seems like "broken" gold are worth less somehow. Have you tried them out? Do you think it's a scam? Comparing to the market rate of gold, are you getting good price per ounce?

Asked in: Miscellaneous - 283 days ago - 5 answers

Where can I find the best hotel rates on short notice?

I am taking a family vacation / road trip to Virginia next week. We will be spending a few nights in the hotel. Can you recommend web sites that I can visit and books room on such a short notice?

Asked in: Miscellaneous - 284 days ago - 3 answers

Where is the best place to start putting profit money for a business?

Asked by: jasonverdelli in Business and Economy - 15 hours ago

Pinyo's Answer

I think the answer really depends on you and your situation. You'll have to evaluate various options and determine what's best -- and some may choose to diversify and pursue the top few options instead of just one. Here are some of the common options:

Reinvest into the business -- i.e., expansion, process improvement, etc.
Pay down debt (if your business owe money)
Save in short-term liquid account (in case you think you'll need capital in the near future, or expect some sort of cash shortage)
Merger and acquisition
Talent acquisition
Invest in other busiess, either privately or via the stock market

There's no one right answer, so I hope this helps.

Answered 14 hours ago

Converting Traditional IRA to Roth

Is there any rule of thumb when it does/doesn't make sense to convert a traditional IRA to Roth IRA? For example, 1) if your AGI is > $XXX, then do not convert. 2) If you're over 55 and your timeframe for drawing the funds is < YYY years, then do not convert. I'm currently have a nice size traditional IRA and when using one of the online conversion tools (e.g. Fidelity), I would have to pay a pile of taxes but over the long term it would be beneficial. Hard pill to swallow!

Asked by: rcsretirement in Personal Finance - 1 day ago

Pinyo's Answer

We have a good article that discuss traditional IRA versus Roth IRA. The specific rule of thumb the author offered was to live within the 15% tax bracket. Exactly what this means? If you marginal tax rate is above 15%, then contribute to Traditional IRA to lower your taxable income and move you back into the 15%. If you are in the 15% tax bracket or lower, then contribute to Roth IRA.

Answered 19 hours ago

What do you think about the multilevel marketing investment?

I am about to buy a "business" in the Trump multilevel network. I have to buy $500 of a nutritional products box, sell to at least 3 people the same box, and keep consuming $100 each month of this product (vitamins, nutritional stuff, and anti age creams), so later I will receive a residual income without having to work directly in sales.. This is the new Trump network or something like that. Should I get into this??? Thank you so much for your help. Please hurry up b/c I have to pay this on Monday! Thanks Pepa

Asked by: Pepa in Investing - 8 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Personally, I would stay away from any kind of MLM scheme. You're putting yourself in a plan where you're guaranteed to spend money for a chance to make money. To get that chance, you have to drag in 3 other people, who themselves have to drag in 3 other people. The only winners in this game is the company that provide overpriced products (they will convince you otherwise) and people at the top of the pyramid. Does it work? Yes. But for every person that is benefited from an MLM scheme, there are probably 10s or even 100s burned by the same scheme.

Answered 8 days ago

What hapens to a company's stock when it declares chapter 11?

my wife company filled soming 11 an had to start over,she lost all her stock,can we wright that off

Asked by: rander99 in Taxes - 8 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

I believe you're referring to chapter 11. When this happens, the shares usually become worthless. If the stock has not been delisted yet, you could sell them just like any other shares and take a loss. Otherwise, you can work with your broker to see if you could declare these shares worthless. If neither options are viable, you are basically stuck with these shares until the company gets back on its feet and decide to do something with these original shares. Here are some additional reads:

Answered 8 days ago

How long can my employer wait to deposit my 401k contribution?

I am making bi-weekly contributions to my 401k, but my employer is taking over 2 weeks to post my contribution and their matching to my account. Is there a rule to how long it should take before I see my contributions.

Asked by: twalls in Investing - 9 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

According to 401khelpcenter, they should deposit the amount as soon as they can. The exact term that govern this is as follow: "Employers must transmit employee contributions to pension plans as soon as they can reasonably be segregated from the employer’s general assets, but not later than the 15th business day of the month immediately after the month in which the contributions either were withheld or received by the employer." I would contact your HR department and ask about this.

Answered 8 days ago

Automating Investments vs Risk Management

You wrote recently on Managing your risks in stock market re stop losses etc. However, I alway hear about automating investments (set it and forget it). How can you do the two? If I am socking away $200 a month into mutual funds, how can I do Stop Losses? I am not yet investing, I need to work on the Emergency Fund but I am reading, studying and preparing for the day.

Asked by: jo@spm in Investing - 13 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Using stop losses tend to be suitable to different type of investors than those that automatically invest on a regular basis. For these latter type of investors, stop losses can actually be counterproductive because stop losses cause you to sell when the price is low rather than buy more. For the type of investing that you're doing now -- i.e., adding $200 a month into mutual funds -- I wouldn't worry about stop losses. You should be more concern about picking the right asset allocation, choosing funds that best represents your asset allocation, and rebalancing your portfolio every once in a while.

Answered 13 days ago

Who do I contact to find out if someone who has died had life insurance?

i lost my father recently to cancer & im sure he had life insurance but cant find any paper work to confirm this & i have not a clue where i got to go to find out or who to contact.

Asked by: scallylad81 in Insurance - 25 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

I am sorry about your loss. First I would go through all the paperwork to see if you can find anything. If not, check bank statements, duplicate checks, and credit card statements to see if you can find any premium payment made to insurance company, or companies. Another thing you might want to check is with his employer. Some people do not have individual life insurance, but do have group life insurance through their jobs.

Answered 25 days ago

Need advice on selling house and moving across town

My husband has his own business. We have a rental property that is worth around $250,000, and we are selling our current house for $435,000 (we have a contract). He just got approved for a loan for $120,000. We are planing on putting a $60,000 down payment for a house. We would like to buy a house for $370,000. I am very frustrated to find out that we were only approved for $120,000. Do we need to stay in the house ($435,000 house) and not sell it? We have not had any problems with making monthly mortgage payments. Thanks, Marie

Asked by: MARIEA12 in Investing - 25 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Marie - unfortunately, getting a loan has become much tougher since the 2008-2009 crisis. I am going to make some assumptions here. I think you have at least two things working against you here: self-employments income (which simply means unsteady income to the bank), you already own two properties and potentially two mortgages. Also, I don't know what your credit history, business income, and rental income are like. Lenders now only want to work with people who has good credit and a history of steady income. Assuming that everything is good and you already have a contract to sell the $435,000 house, you should be able to get a loan pending the sales of the $435k house. Before you give up, you should check around with a few lenders and see if you can find one that would work with you.

Answered 25 days ago

Where should I invest savings for buying a house with cash in 15 years?

What type of account or fund should I save money with an end goal of paying for a house in cash in 15 years? My end goal for this account is $250,000 since my retirement home will be in a low cost of living area. I have considered a bond index fund to have lower risk of losing capital but still get at least some interest. I would appreciate any guidance.

Asked by: pjsrn99 in Investing - 28 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

This situation is quite similar to investing for my son's college education in term of target amount and time horizon. With my son's education fund, I started of with 100% in an S&P500 index fund and as each year goes by, reallocate and increase the fixed income portion by about 5-7%. It is done this way so that the entire fund is protected by the time he starts college. You could try something like this, or sock everything away in a high interest savings account. Other alternatives like buliding a CD ladder would work as well. However, 15 years from now your $250,000 house will cost more due to inflation. If the inflation rate is 4% per year, the same house will cost approximately $430,000 -- unless you already factor in the inflation? Also, consider the "cost" of not living in the home you ultimately want to live in for 15 years. Yes, there's something to be said about being able to buy a home in cash, but is it really the right thing -- especially with the current mortgage rate and real estate market condition.

Answered 27 days ago

Rule of 115 ? How does it come about ?

How does the rule of 115 relate to the rule of 72 ? I don't understand how it came about. I really need help. Its for my final maths assignment of year 12 !

Asked by: gems3 in Miscellaneous - 31 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Rule of 115 is an extension of Rule 72. Rule 72 is a trick that helps you figure out how long (or at what rate or return) you need to double your money. Rule of 115 helps you figure out how long, or the rate you need, to triple your money.

Answered 29 days ago

Will the IRS or Calif. EDD place a lien or levy on a spouse's IRA?

I am facing a possible assessment for payroll taxes from my business. My spouse did not participate in the business and our personal taxes are all paid. I am concerned that they may lien or levy her accounts. should I be concerned that they are at risk?

Asked by: Maximus in Taxes - 34 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Maximus, this sounds like a serious issue and I would recommend that you consult a tax attorney as opposed to asking questions on the Net. Most answers on the web a provided by non-professionals, and this situation really need a pro.

Answered 32 days ago

im 47 did IRAs for years in my 20s lost track banks sold how do i find them

lost track of IRAs

Asked by: bigbill in Financial Planning - 36 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Bigbill, this will require some manul work. If you can still remember the original bank name, you could possibly track down who the current custodian is. Try searching for your bank by name with phrases like "acquired by" or "IRA custodian". I hope this helps.

Answered 32 days ago

Can I deduct money lost in the stock market in 2009 tax return?

I lost about 10000 dollars in the stock market in 2009. Can I deduct those losts in the tax return

Asked by: JAMO10 in Taxes - 38 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

According to the IRS, you can offset capital losses against capital gains in 2009. If your capital losses exceed your capital gains, you can deduct up to $3,000 against ordinary income ($1,500 if you are married filing separately). If your capital loss is more than this limit, you can carry the loss forward to later years. You can report this using Form 1040, Schedule D.

Answered 38 days ago

Did not receive a 1099 for my IRA, do I need to report anything on my taxes?

I have an IRA and for 2009 I did not pay anything in to or take anything out of. I did not receive a 1099 do I need to report anything on my taxes?

Asked by: simplyme in Taxes - 41 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

As far as I could recall, if there's no activity -- i.e., you didn't contribute anything and you didn't withdraw any money -- there is nothing to report on your tax returns

Answered 32 days ago

Can i get help paying my maine property taxes

Is there a program to help pay back property taxes

Asked by: smadore in Taxes - 46 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Hi Smadore, you can check out this page: Maine Residents Property Tax and Rent Refund Program.

Answered 32 days ago

Where can I find cheap or free legal advice?

I have an investment that is stuck for 2.5 yrs and need to know what to do. Does anyone know about legal blogs? or pro bono lawyers? student lawyers to look in this. This is related to money, so thought of asking here. Thank you.

Asked by: avenger90 in Miscellaneous - 210 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

That's a really tough situation and I am sorry to hear that. The best answer I can give you is to check out Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). Even if they cannot help you directly, they could probably point you in the right direction better than I can.

Answered 209 days ago

Invest with ETFs in an IRA?

Would it be advantageous to invest in a Small Cap ETF or a Small Cap Mutual Fund within a tax advantaged retirement account? Considering that, at least initially, dollar cost averaging will be the way this account will be funded.

Asked by: lrgche in Investing - 241 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

ETF primary advantage is its higher tax efficiency. However, it's traded like a stock so you're paying commission each time you buy to dollar cost average. Unless you're investing a large sum of money and rarely add to your position, the commissions will add up quickly and kill your return on investment. In your case, I think it's better to find a low cost mutual fund that doesn't charge you transaction fee or front-end load to buy more shares. This will keep your trading fee at $0 and you're only paying equal to the annual expense ratio.

Answered 241 days ago

Looking into refinancing and wondering about the appraisal...

I'm looking into refinancing and although I've got a good faith estimate in hand, I'm just wondering about the appraisal because it costs so much and would be money wasted if the house didn't appraise in my favor. How close or not have appraisers been coming to estimates provided by sites such as Zillow or tax assessments? What do these appraisers take into account? When I asked the loan officer what he thought about me calling a real estate agent in just to get some sort of ball park figure, he said that they look at something completely different when appraising the house. Funny thing is that they appraised my house $30,000 more than I paid and it wasn't even built yet. I'm sure you can understand my reluctance to spend $525.00 and to not have a favorable result. Thanks for your time.

Asked by: Diane in Real Estate - 255 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Diane, unfortunately appraisal is required to make sure that your loan amount is not more than the value of the property you are refinancing. And based on my experience $525 is on the high end, but it's still a reasonable fee for appraisal. As far as Zillow goes, the answer is it depends. For my house, it's very close, but it appears to be very inaccurate for my neighbors. The tax assessment also doesn't truly reflect your home market value. As far as what appraiser looks for when they perform home appraisal, they look at such items as the condition of the home, the neighborhood, what similar homes are selling for, and how quickly similar homes sell. You can actually help your home appraise better by improving it's curb appeal, make sure it's well maintained (clean and clutter free), give it a fresh coat of paint, etc. -- just as if you're trying to sell the house.

Answered 255 days ago

Which retirement account to fund?

Our household income is divided 80% / 20%. So when putting 15% of our income toward retirement, how should those funds be allocated? Split evenly between my account and my spouses? All into one account for the primary bread winner? Some details: 15% of the primary bread winner's income is more than the Roth IRA max, 401(k) is only available for the primary bread winner, but does not have a company match. Leaning toward maxing out Roth for me and putting the small remaining funds into a Roth for my spouse. Your thoughts?

Asked by: lrgche in Investing - 255 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

I am in a similar situation as you in term of income differences. My wife and I combined our finances completely. Like you, my company doesn't provide a match for my 401(k) -- recently eliminated it due to the economic crisis. We are also not in debt, except for our mortgage. Basically, this is what we do.

Max out both of our Roth IRAs -- that's $5,000 each. Since it's the only tax-free investment vehicle right now, it's the most attractive option, not knowing how much taxes we will be paying in the future.
Contribute as much as I can to 401(k) to take advantage of dollar cost averaging since a lot of the investments are down significantly.
If I manage to max out everything, I also try to put some money in my SEP IRA to reduce tax burden from blogging income.

So for your situation, my suggestion is to max our Roth IRA for both of you and contribute the rest to your bread winner's 401(k). I hope this helps.

Answered 255 days ago

At what point is it worth it to refinance?

We're looking at doing a refinance right now for our 30 year (27 yrs remaining) fixed mortgage at 6.5%. Remaining loan balance around 200k. We were going to do it a few months back with the rates were at around 5% with closing costs of about $3000, but a family medical issue meant that we needed to hold off for a couple of months. Now the rates have gone up quite a bit, but are obviously still lower than our current mortgage. At what point do you think it is a good idea to refinance? The threshold we had decided on was that we wanted to be able to repay the closing costs/etc within a year or so.. At what point would you think it would be worth it to refinance?

Asked by: biblemoneymatters in Real Estate - 285 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Hi Pete, Refinancing is primarily a mathematical question and also somewhat a guess. The guess part is how long you'll be in the house because you don't want to refinance, later decide to move, and ended up paying more in refinancing costs than you do if you were paying your original mortgage payments. So the break even point is important. Now, for the math. To calculate your break even point, you simply use a refinance calculator (via CNN). As long as you have the numbers, you can see how much you'll save monthly and over the life of the loan. It will also give you your breakeven point. In your situation, don't forget to factor in PMI as additional cost on the new loan. I have a couple of articles which may help:

Answered 284 days ago

Where to open a Roth IRA?

Opening a Roth IRA this year, any suggestions for where to open if I'm not planning on making many trades? Taking the put and leave it alone approach (except periodic re-balancing).

Asked by: lrgche in Investing - 289 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

lrgche, I am currently using TD Ameritrade and TradeKing for my IRAs. Both are very good, but ultimately it depends on what your are planning to invest in. For example, TradeKing is cheaper than TD Ameritrade if you're investing in stocks and ETFs because the cost is about half. TradeKing also charges less for some mutual funds ($14.95), but TD Ameritrade could charge up to $50 commission fee for a No Load fund (a No Transaction Fee fund would cost nothing). However, if you're planning to stick to one family fund like Vanguard Target Retirement Funds, you may want to open an account directly with Vanguard. Also, you may want to look into eTrade which is currently offering no fee, no minimum IRA account with 100 commission-free stock trades.

Answered 289 days ago

Where can I find the best interest rate for my savings?

Where can I find the best interest rate for my savings? My bank is giving me a lousy half a percent!

Asked by: Gavilan in Banking - 296 days ago

Pinyo's Answer

Right now, the best interest rate is only in the 2.0 - 2.5% range, which is real low compare to what it used to be a year or two ago. Please take a look a my list of online savings banks here: high yield savings banks

Answered 296 days ago

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