Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Money

Which companies provide additional benefits/incentives for stockholders?

borkencode — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:28:22 -0800

Which companies provide additional, non dividend, benefits or incentives for stockholders? I saw someone mention in passing here on AskMe about a phone company sending phone cards as part of its annual report, a practice that had since been discontinued. What companies still do this sort of thing? Either through giving away or discounting their services, or offering some other benefit (secret stockholder's lounge?).

What metrics are sales professionals guided by?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:27:00 -0800

What metrics are sales professionals guided by? Working with my sales manager to help redefine how inside and outside salespeople should be compensated and reviewed.

Everything from leadership to new accounts to call metrics to closed business... how does your business (or your competitors) judge the success of your sales force?

[Also, if you have any articles of interest or website recommendations, it would be just as valuable.]

Income and Outgo for the Happy Couple

26.2 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:54:29 -0800

Can anyone recommend a web based money management software for two? We're trying to put our accounts in one spot where we can monitor them. The problem is we have lots of existing accounts. Here are the requirements:
- support for two users who share accounts
- web based
- ability to import from multiple credit cards, checking, savings, IRAs, investment accounts and loans
- calculators for best loan payoffs and for retirement savings
- ability to categories transactions
- budgeting
- support for the blackberry would be awesome

I will happily pay for a solution; free is not required. We're not looking to change the spending/saving behavior of either person. We just need 1 spot to look for money stuff.

Prepaid Cellphone For NYC That Is Not Virgin Mobile?

jason's_planet — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:52:01 -0800

I need a prepaid cellphone service in NYC that is NOT Virgin Mobile. Looking to pay about $10 a month. Don't need lots of fancy telecom doo-dads. Just need decent reception and reliable service and voicemail. What are my options? How about Verizon? Are they any good? I've been using Virgin Mobile for a while. But the relationship is no longer meeting my needs. Because you've been nice enough to read my question and (possibly) help me out, I will spare you the gratuitous kvetching. Here is the abbreviated kvetching: Virgin Mobile's service is so piss-poor that I can barely make out what people are saying on my phone and it's not unusual for me to get voicemails two or three days after they would have done me some good. This is unacceptable. I feel as if I'm paying $6 a month for absolutely nothing. I am willing to pay c. $10 a month if it actually gets me something.

I'll add here that I am a very occasional user of my cellphone. It's there for potential employers to contact me and so that I can let people know if I'm running late. I don't need five hundred minutes of calling a month or anything like that.

I've done a little bit of research, and Verizon prepaid appears to fit the bill. If you have firsthand experience of Verizon prepaid, would you recommend them? Or is there another service that you would recommend? Again, halfway decent reception here in the concrete canyons of NYC and reliable service -- i.e. getting voicemails when people leave them, not four or five days later -- are what I'm looking for. Nothing fancy.

Many thanks in advance.

How to invest $30k for 3 months?

trbrts — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:09:12 -0800

What are some good low risk ways to invest $30k for about a 3 month period? So, our house is under contract, but, so far we've been unable to find a house that's meeting our requirements. At this point I feel that we aren't going to see anything good until after the holidays. So, we're probably going to switch over to looking for a rental. Rather than just sticking the money in the savings account, I'm open to taking some of it and seeing if we can get some kind of return, but, I don't know anything about investing. So, what are some ways I can invest around $30k for around a 3 month time frame that will see some kind of return. Obviously I can't get too crazy with this money and I understand that 3 months is a pretty short timeframe. Would there be any tax implications in doing this? Thanks in advance.

If you had the opportunity to start over, what would you do?

helios410 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:34:55 -0800

If you had the opportunity to start over, what would you do? I can't afford to live in Manhattan anymore. After five years of attempting to gain a steady career, it's time for me to throw in the towel.

I am 27 years old. I have a bachelor's degree. And I have freelanced for a handful of television networks for the past 5 years, mostly doing creative editorial (read: post-production) for on-air and web promos. Frankly, I can't tell if it's the fact that it's so difficult to keep a steady flow of work, or I am just generally unimpressed with the job itself, but I am burnt out. Furthermore, financially I am not making ends meet because I only get 1-2 gigs a week (which usually last a day).

What I am looking for is steady work, but my feeling is I have been working in such a niche field that my skills are not portable to other industries. I do consider going back to school for an MBA, but my undergrad GPA is a feeble 2.4 as I was battling depression during college (and still am to this day). Frankly, I am not sure if business school is the way to go. But in today's economy the lingering feeling is an MBA is one of the few masters degrees that usually pays for itself.

Considering I am split between trying to find new work in a budding or stable industry and going back to school, I have two questions:

1) What resources are available to find out where job growth is occurring? Note: I am not limiting myself to the US. If you tell me China, I ask how do I get hired there.

2) Besides US News & Reports, what resources can I use to learn about business school programs, and learn whether an MBA from an average school is worth the cost? Especially those schools who, assuming I managed to pull a kick ass GMAT score, would consider an individual with a less than stellar undergrad GPA like myself.

I have no direction, but I know I need a serious change, because the fact is relying on parents for financially support is taking its toll on how I value myself. Thanks for reading this longish post.

Best option for regular US to EUR currency exchange?

finitejest — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:23:40 -0800

I'm an American who's just bought a lovely home in the EU. Yay! Now I have to make regular mortgage payments while still living and working in the US. How do I transfer money over to our EU bank account on a regular basis as cheaply as possible?... Some more info: It seems as though the majority of the currency exchange companies are targeted towards Brits. The rest look pretty shady.

We've looked at Currencies Direct, however in the middle of our application process we were informed that because of some new laws they were no longer able to open new contracts with any US citizens not based in the same state (GA) as their only US office.

Now we're out of ideas. We've even looked to see if we could somehow wrangle a PayPal account into euros and do exchanges through there.

Currently banking with BOA and doing wire transfers, but they charge hefty fees on top of the normal exchange rate.

So... halp please! Any suggestions from personal experience?

No lease, moving howto?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:48:23 -0800

I live in an apartment with no lease and pay rent to my (dishonest) roommate. How do I minimize my financial losses when I move out? I moved in June 15 and paid a full month's rent ($600). The next month and each subsequent month my roommate told me to pay $550 after I questioned how high the rent was. I paid that rent on the first of each month (or thereabouts).

In months that passed, I've found out that roommate has lied about how much the whole apartment rents for, and that he pays $50 less rent than he told me he paid. I've also observed that he generally lies and cheats people out of things whenever he has the opportunity to do so. We do not have good roommate relations due to related and unrelated conflicts, and he does not like me & vice versa.

I don't have a security deposit or a lease, the utilities are in my name (and I take the amount that he owes me out of the rent check each month), and what we'd (verbally) agreed upon was that I would give 30 days notice before moving out.

I am planning on moving out December 14. I am also planning on taking the utilities out of my name starting on that day. I am 95% positive that he will not give me what he owes me for utilities for the period of December 1-15 (the bill that I will get after I move out). This will be a non-trivial sum since we live in a cold area with high gas bills.

What I (and others I've consulted) see my options as being are to give him written and verbal notification on November 13 that I will be moving out on December 14 and:

A: Pay all of December rent.
B: Pay half of December rent.
C: Say that I've been paying rent from the 15th-15th of each month (since I moved in on June 15) and pay no December rent.
D: Pay half of December rent and subtract the utilities that he owes from that AND the utilities that I project he will owe for the final bill.

So, MetaFilter, what do I do? What is right? What is fair? What will screw me over the least?

How much to charge for conference presentations?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:05:53 -0800

A friend and I have been asked to present sessions at a conference, and we're not sure exactly how much to charge. The venue is a biannual communications conference for a large union, on the topic of social media. The first is going to be about and hour and a half long, one is going to be a powerpoint-heavy what-is-social-media-and-how-unions-can-use-it-effectively. The second is a more technical (but still novice-level) workshop on how to use online tools to make a website (blogger, wordpress, etc) - about an hour and a half of instruction, then three hours or so of helping the attendees build a site using what they've learned.

We've both presented and led workshops before, but with a much higher technical skill level (and for smaller organizations), and we're not sure what a good baseline would be to charge. The registration fee for attendees is just under $100, and while I'm not sure how many people are expected to attend, the capacity for the venue itself is between 500-800.

Any advice would be appreciated!

What are my rights with my insurance company?

btkuhn — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:02:45 -0800

What are my rights with my insurance company? You are not my lawyer, but...

I am not looking for a legal opinion, but I'd like to find out what my rights are in a situation, and I don't know how. I have insurance coverage through my job with a major national insurer. I had to go for a long-term residential stay in the hospital to take care of some health problems. I knew that it was going to be expensive before going in, so I contacted my insurance company to make sure that the treatment was covered and at what rate it was covered. I was told that yes, the treatment was covered, and it was covered at 70% until my out-of-pocket max of $3000/year was reached.

So, after going through the treatment and getting my bill, I saw that it was covered as it should have been, except that when my out-of-pocket max was reached nothing different happened - I wasn't cut off at $3000 responsibility. I contacted my insurance co and was told that I must have been told the wrong thing before going in, and the type of treatment I underwent had no out of pocket max restrictions - ie I was responsible for 30% of the total cost, which works out to be about 35%.

I've had problems with insurance companies in the past, so I made sure to get written confirmation of my responsibility before going in for treatment. I have two email from customer service saying that my liability was capped at $3000, for the specific treatment I went for. I went through the appeals process with my insurance company and showed them these emails, and my appeals were denied, with no explanation except "sorry, you were told the wrong thing". I am currently appealing through my state insurance commission but I've heard things move very, very slowly.

My question is, what are my rights in this situation, legally? It seems pretty straightforward - the insurance company told me a treatment was covered, and then after I had it done they changed their tune and won't cover it. So they should be forced to pay for what they said they would. But I don't know how the law really works - perhaps insurance companies are allowed to lie to you (maybe customer service communications aren't legally binding), all that matters is the text of the policy itself? It turns out that the policy itself does not have a out of pocket max for this kind of treatment - this is written in the fine print of the 100+ page policy book, which I didn't have at the time of my treatment. All I had access to was a condensed policy booklet that did not mention this exclusion.

Can anyone comment on what my actual rights are in this situation, if any?

What practical things can you do to help loved ones caught in a cycle of poverty

jeffreyclong — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:43:27 -0800

As a follow-up to this question I asked last week... What *practical* things have you done as a loved one of friends or family that were struggling financially or were stuck in a cycle of poverty. Have you loaned money? Paid bills? Helped them write a budget? Let them move in? Bought them groceries? Filled up their gas tank? There must be other things I'm not thinking about. What advice would you give to a parent whose adult child was floundering?

Most cost-effective way of transfering money from UK to US

moiraine — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:30:39 -0800

Need to transfer modest amounts of money from UK to a US bank account every 2-3 months. What would be the most cost-effective way to do so? I am working in the UK. I need to pay off study loans in the US, with the first loan installment due in a couple of months. I intend/ need to transfer between anywhere between $500 to $2000 to my US bank account regularly, say every 2-3 months.

The most cost-effective way that I know of would be to take out the money in the UK, change at the Post Office (with 0% commission rates), and physically the money to the US, and place it in my bank account there. This, of course, assumes my plane ticket is paid for and I am not robbed (I have done this before, and I was fine, but I don't want to do a regular basis).

Wire transfer appears to be the second cheapest method, and I am happy to pay the wire transfer fees (~20 pounds, depending on the bank). However, I understand that the bank have non-competitive exchange rates, which are hidden costs of the transfer (~50 pounds will be 'lost' in the exchange).

I considered making regular transfers from my Paypal UK to my Paypal US account. This would be extremely convenient, but there are hefty commissions -- about 5%, and I think more is taken off from the receiving end (?)

Anyway, I was wondering whether people had any personal experience with wire transfer and non-competitive fees. Any additional ideas are also appreciated. Would appreciate if there were no comments like, "But if you just paid a little more, you could save yourself the hassle!" as I am willing go through a fair amount of hassle just to pay less fees.

I have family in the US who are probably willing to cash in a check for me every month, if this makes any difference.

Money + Art = Profit?

kathrineg — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:24:48 -0800

Best way for a hobbyist photographer to sell prints? In NYC. Should I go hang out at Union Square with some prints? Somewhere online? Should I have a website? Should I make editions and number them?

How much of a profit should I be expecting from each piece?

Should I offer to take photographs of people? Is there any money in artsy/impressionistic photography on commission?

My apartment has a great print and two people have offered to buy a print of the same photo (for real, not out of politeness). So I'm thinking I have a decent opportunity to make a little cash from a wider audience if I hustle a little bit.

Cheers, and thanks.

How expensive are chickens to raise?

middleclasstool — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:22:55 -0800

What can I expect (mostly financially) from raising hens as pets? A Facebook friend has me really excited about the idea of raising a couple of hens in my backyard. I like the idea of fresh eggs and pest control, and I figure the kids will get a kick out of them.

On the plus side, they seem like pretty low-maintenance animals, and my city's laws are strict but doable (inexpensive permit required, must have your coop no less than 75 feet from neighbor dwellings, inspection required by the city, no roosters). My only concern now is cost -- how much on average does it cost to feed and care for an average hen? We're doing fairly well but are saving very aggressively and live pretty close to the bone, and of course I don't want to totally screw up our budget. Any other non-financial gotchas I should be aware of would also be appreciated.

Also, what varieties do you recommend? I'd like good eggs, but just as important is an even temperament, with bonus points for looking awesome. We're in central Arkansas, if that matters.

I hate my job, and I don't know what to switch to... how screwed am I?

SansPoint — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:48:09 -0800

I need a new job, and I need one by the end of the year, because I'm very close to walking out of the one I have now. Help me, hive mind, as I'm at my wits end. What the hell can I do that's in Philadelphia, doesn't require a car, isn't sales, and pays around $30k? If you check my previous questions, you'll see that I've asked this thing before. At this point, though, it's getting dire. My needs are pretty damn specific, w/r/t pay, too, as I have student loans and other debt out the wazoo, as well as a $750/mo lease. I don't want to recap the ways my current job makes me hate myself and my life. I just want something else.

This is my résumé. I don't have a lot of skills. I've worked in tele-sales in some form or another for my entire professional life, and I hate it. I loathe it, I despise it. I hate cold-calling, I hate trying to convince people to buy something, give money, or accept a call from someone else, at least over the phone. I hate interrupting people, I hate being hung-up on, and I hate being brushed off. I need something else to maintain my sanity.

Thing is, I've officially run out of ideas as to what to search for. I thought I could move to a career in development for non-profits or performing arts, which Philly has no shortage of, but I can't even get an interview. I suspect this is because tele-fundraising has as much to do with proper development as LOGO has to do with programming in Assembler.

I'm barely making enough money. I tried going back to my second job doing tele-fundraising, but I lasted a week before illness sidelined me. I'm barely well enough to do my day job, and that's not paying enough because I'm not making my goal.

Please, please, PLEASE do not suggest volunteering, unpaid internships, or anything that will reduce my already poor income. Ways I can get better at my current, shitty job would be useful, but I don't want to do sales any more. I never wanted to.

So, I'm officially at my wit's end. Help me, Metafilter, as I'm totally out of ideas.

Is there any way to estimate what a car & car insurance would cost me if I moved to San Francisco?

scazza — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:16:16 -0800

What are ways to estimate what a car and car insurance would cost me if I moved to San Francisco? I'm looking for what it would cost to have a reasonable, eco-friendly (not necessarily a hybrid, probably not a hybrid) car for 2 people in San Francisco. Something like a hatchback that's 1-2 years old. I live in NYC now so I have no idea how to go about estimating insurance and car loan payments. Resources? Thanks!

(There is a question about this from 2005, but I think things may have changed by now.)

Is there a way to order and mail a British Postal Order online?

Senor Cardgage — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:22:42 -0800

Is there a way to order and mail a British Postal Order online? So we are going to Glastonbury!

I asked this question a while back and you were all a tremendous help, and I am forever grateful.

Well now it is time to book a B&B in Glastonbury Town for the night before the fest (to beat the 12 hour traffic jams) and they want us to pay with a Postal Order, which I gather is sort of like a money order.

Can I order these online somewhere and have it shipped directly?
Can I use a US money order?

Google isnt telling me much and time really is of the essence on this one.
Can anyone help me iron this out? Thanks!

She works hard for the money...

firei — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:05:20 -0800

A friend of mine wants to open a business, and is looking for information on business loans or grants specifically for women. I've been on the SBA and SCORE websites, but haven't been able to find too much info. Everyone always says that there's a lot of financial assistance for women looking to open businesses, but I'm having trouble finding it!

If it helps: I believe she is looking to open a dog grooming/training facility.

Specifics would be awesome, but general links would be alright as well.

Are PhD students responsible for a lot of general lab work (4 out of 5 days of work)?

mallow005 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:09:00 -0800

My girlfriend is a PhD student and is wondering how much general lab work (not related to research) is normal for a student (not a lab employee). Her PI does not pay her anything, all her income (stipend, lab expenses) come from other sources like grants. She is not paid extra for doing the general lab work. Her stipend is about half of the cheapest employee her PI can hire, the entire lab is made up of employees (she is the only student).

Is this a normal situation for PhD students in a lab setting?

The work is cutting into her research, which may delay her graduation. Should she risk confrontation with her PI or just deal with it? Her PI is known for being difficult to talk to and deal with.

Protection in a weakening economy

CollectiveMind — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:16:04 -0800

Our deficit and our debt are at record levels, even compared to WWII. Then, the debt was financed internally, not by other countries, so the interest we could pay was lower and the money was recycled in the U.S. Now, the debt and deficit are mostly financed by other countries through bond offerings and the like. And as they grow, those debtor countries will want higher interest rates on repayments, which drains money out of the U.S. Does anyone know of, or can anyone suggest a position to take in-case our national financial fortunes deteriorate slowly? A crash, understandably, wouldn't offer much safety for anyone except the very rich. And I'd expect social unrest would threaten even them at that point. But in general and for the average investor, are there any suggestions for investment or money/asset movement strategies that can protect one in an economy with (a) increasing foreign debt payments in the short term, (b) potential significant interest rate increases in the medium term and (c) lessened national economic influence on the international currency markets in the long term? I just can't seem to find any financial wonk willing to speak plainly on this.

How much can a teenager charge for yard work?

bobertdude — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:48:52 -0800

What would be a fair price to ask? Per hour? Square foot? Give me some input. I'm starting a little business where I do people's yard work. I'm only 16 years old and don't have "professional" experience with yard work; I just do it around the house. How much should I charge? What specifically would I be expected to do?

Give me my Money!

asuprenant — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:56:47 -0800

How to recover/break MS Money password? Hi, I just migrated to a new computer and am bringing over a backup from Microsoft Money (2002 or 2005).

I backed up the account to a .mny backup file, but when I try to open the file on my new computer, I'm asked for a password, which I don't remember setting (or ever being asked for) on my old computer, and none of my standard passwords seem to work. Gargh.

To complicate issues slightly, I'm traveling this week and don't have access to my old computer, just my .mny file and new Money installation.

So - any way to break/workaround the Money password? I've seen a lot of purported services online, but they seem pretty shady. Thanks!

Should I cash this check?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:56:31 -0800

I served on grand jury duty and received a check today for the standard $40 a day. However, I had told the court previously that my job did not dock my pay, so I should not receive a check for my service. Should I cash it? I called today and asked what I should do with this check since I was not supposed to receive it, and the court official told me to go ahead & cash it. Is this legal? She said I do not have to report it and that it is already mine. I do not want this to come back to hurt me, and I feel uneasy about cashing it.

How can I use a spreadsheet to track my accounts?

reenum — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:16:25 -0800

I want to start using a spreadsheet to track and reconcile my various accounts. How do I start? I've been using MS Money for years. Due to switching to the Mac, MS Money being discontinued, and generally hating the fact that my financial data is trapped in a proprietary program, I feel like I should use a spreadsheet to track my finances.

I have a savings account, two checking accounts, two credit card accounts, and a Roth IRA.

There are a couple of things I'm curious about: How does one reconcile accounts in a spreadsheet and are there any templates that have that checkbook entry system that MS Money has?

I've looked at some of the older posts on this topic and none seemed to answer my questions satisfactorily.

Links to templates, blog posts, howtos, general anecdotes, and anything else relating to this question are requested and appreciated. Thanks!

Private Student Loans

rossination — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:35:30 -0800

Help me figure out my options for a small (~$4000) student loan. First of all -- forgive my noobish questions here. I am new to student loans and this whole process is getting overwhelming. I can't find previous AskMe questions that are particularly relevant, but if there are other pages that will answer my questions, feel free to direct me there.

I'm in my fifth (and final) year of my undergrad degree and have to take out some loans to cover part of my last year. I need about $7000 and I qualified for (and received) $3500 of subsidized Stafford loans, leaving me with another $3500 that I'll need to acquire through a private source.

What are my options for the private loan? I assume that I should be looking at credit unions first. The first one I visited today (WSECU) doesn't offer student loans, and BECU directed me to their online application, which says I'm ineligible for a loan unless I co-sign with my parents, as I make less than $3000 a month.

While I don't have a big problem having my parents co-sign a loan, I would much rather do this without them if possible, for practical and personal reasons. I have a pretty good credit score in the low 700s (no credit cards, one $4000 car loan that is almost completely paid off, always made payments on time, etc).

What this boils down to is: am I likely to run into the same restriction that BECU placed on me if I go to other credit unions? My gut tells me to avoid large banks, but should I be looking at Chase (my main bank) or other large institutions? What about Fannie Mae or other companies that specialize in loans like this?