How am I supposed to make financial projections for a business plan when I don't even know how much money I'd earn in a month? [more inside]
posted by divabat on May 19, 2009 - 11 answers

How do I get the most out of a meeting with a financial advisor I don't particularly trust? [more inside]
posted by LN on Mar 19, 2009 - 10 answers

I have four mutual funds in my IRA account - a Total Market index fund, a Small-cap index fund, an International stock index fund, and a Bond index fund, and I'm trying to figure out how to allocate my assets between them. I've read a little bit about "Modern Portfolio Theory" and the "Efficient Frontier", but I'm struggling to understand some of the math. So, is there a simple way I can test whether a particular allocation is on the efficient frontier? Or, see all the possible allocations on the efficient frontier and choose between them? How do I figure this out? Ideally, I'd love to see a simple enough formula that, given the mean and standard deviation (and maybe correlation matrix), of my four funds, would tell me what allocation is on the efficient frontier. Or, some type of online tool, or an Excel spreadsheet or something. [more inside]
posted by stuehler on Feb 17, 2009 - 10 answers

How should I evaluate prospective solo 401k providers? [more inside]
posted by gsh on Nov 17, 2008 - 2 answers

How should I select a financial planner? Should I find a fee-only or commission-based planner? $150-$200/hour seems like a lot of money to me. [more inside]
posted by mshields on Mar 18, 2008 - 9 answers

What are some good resources to help an expatriate plan for retirement? [more inside]
posted by armage on Apr 29, 2007 - 1 answer

What advice/information can any of you guys give regarding selling an annuity? I have a six-figure annuity sum due in about 2.5 years, but I could definitely use the money now for moving to NYC for graduate school. I wouldn't need to recieve the entire amount immediately, or, the entire amount minus whatever commission/percentages taken by the agency. I would actually prefer a low 5-figure sum to get on my feet in NYC and establish good credit, pay off loans, etc., and then whatever schedule that was determined to be prudent afterwards. Are there any banks, companies, agencies that would be recommended? Pitfalls I should watch out for? Am I potentially making a financial blunder?
posted by oog on Nov 28, 2005 - 10 answers

Young married couple, mid-20's, good income: ready to take our finances more seriously. Who do we talk to? [more inside]
posted by junkbox on Oct 19, 2005 - 25 answers