Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with fund

Organizing better to raise money?

parmanparman — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:48:46 -0800

I work as a fund raiser and need a better system of organization for following up on calls to and from alumni. We are using Banner, which is very clunky and heretofor I am unable to leave the system. I feel very reliant on the computer but as my portfolio grows smaller I want to find a more desk-oriented system that will allow me to peruse my portfolio and follow up on things faster. Any suggestions? I am already compiling to-do lists each evening for things to do the next day, but things are being lost in the cracks. I don't find GTD very effective as I tend to get my orders in the middle of the day and then need to finish them before leaving. Any advice or equipment I should be looking into. By all means, I don't want another computer/internet application to deal with.

What steps are needed to managing OPM

erd0c — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:03:36 -0800

What are the steps towards managing other people's money? I've been asked to manage other people's money (family and friends) and to act as a fiduciary. What are the responsible acts that need to occur for me to do so? In addition, I do not have a business degree. I do have an opportunity to return to school and obtain an MS in finance or anything else, or get my MBA. This may sound a large undertaking, but this is the first step in a long journey. Thanks.

How can I afford to build an "emergency fund" ?

swiffa — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:41:29 -0800

How does one "put aside" x months of expenses for emergencies? Not pay expenses for x months? I often hear this advice (which I think is great) but putting it into reality is driving me mad.
For example: I make $18,000 year net and want to put aside $ 9,000 or 6 months living expenses (living practically check to check). If I put 1/2 of my check aside (impossible with expenses) it would take a year. At a more reasonable rate of 1/8 of my check ... 4 years?

Seems like by the time you have it put aside an emergency quite likely will have already happened (like a job loss). Any thoughts?(besides not sleep and work until health is lost) :)

Old Prices for John Hancock Income Security Trust

i love cheese — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:04:11 -0800

OldFinancialInformationFilter: Figuring out cost basis for John Hancock Income Securities Trust (JHS) under its previous CUSIP. I'm trying to track down the closing price for John Hancock Income Securities Trust (JHS) for the following dates:

March 17, 1973
Sept 6, 1973
Sept 7, 1973

According to this page, the fund was created Feb 14, 1973, and changed its CUSIP on Dec 31, 1984. The former CUSIP number was #410122105, and apparently the symbol JHS was assigned in 2000.

I can find prices for the fund as far back as 1991, but no earlier.

[you guys did a great job last time I had a question like this.]

Where can I keep some money for 200 years?

GernBlandston — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:12:22 -0800

I have a project I'd like to start that I will never be able to finish. I want to create a fund of money to be used by my local library, the principle of which can never be touched. They will only be able to use a small percentage of the interest. Before they can start doing that, though, I want the fund to remain untouched for 150+ years to allow it to increase in size. The goal is to let this fund grow so large that the library can become autonomous on just the interest. How can I set this up so that there are no legal loopholes to pilfer the fund? Where should the fund reside? Where can I find more information about these types of projects?

Thanks!

How can I set up a college fund for my possibly terminally ill friend's children?

mingshan — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:11:36 -0800

I have a friend with a possibly terminal illness. I'm trying to figure out a way to set up a college fund, to which any of her friends/family could contribute, for her two young children. So far I've looked into ESAs (might not work due to the $2k annual limit) and 529s, but I've had trouble finding information specific to this type of situation -- which I have to imagine is not all that uncommon. What options should I be investigating? Should I talk to a financial advisor?

Which type of ETF to go for

Jimmeh — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:12:40 -0800

I have $2000AUD to spend on Exchage-Traded Funds and I can't decide what to go for. My initial idea was to put $1k in something blue chip/stable and the other $1k in something high-growth/risky.

I am based in Australia.

For the blue chip/stable investment, I was thinking:

SPDR S&P/ASX 50 Fund (ticker: SFY)
or
SPDR S&P/ASX 200 Fund (ticker: STW)

more info here: www.streettracks.com.au

Out of those two, what should I go for? Would a top 200 fund be considered more reliable?

For the other $1k, I'm thinking something available from iShares. I'm not sure if going for any U.S. flavoured ETF's are a good idea right now, so I thought either something based in Asia or the iShares MSCI EAFE (ticker: IVE).

It's quite confusing trying to determine which world market is going to provide future growth and returns.

What do you think?
I know, it's probably a big ask, but I'd appreciate any opinions.
Thanks all

Starting a Foundation or Fund

divabat — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:29:21 -0800

How do I start a fund or foundation? I would like to start up a fund or foundation to give grants to projects by young people back home (Malaysia), an area currently in need but not served very well. Being a young person myself with plenty of enthusiasm but not enough knowledge, I'm not sure where to begin.

I understand that a lot of information will be location-specific (laws, regulations, etc), but what else do I need to take note of when starting a fund?

How do I get the money? (I can't just use my life savings...)
What sort of bank account would be best?
How do I get people to be interested in the fund, to support it and apply for grants?
How do I choose who do I give grants to, and what do I do with them afterwards?
How do I build credibility? (A big problem back home is that youth projects tend to start up with plenty of hype, then disappear soon after. I don't want that to happen.)
How do I find people to help me? What sort of people should I be after for this - businesses? Community people? Other youth?
What existing models can I follow or use as reference? I've seen the YouthBank UK website and it looks interesting, and I would like more examples.
What is the difference between a foundation and a fund? Will I have to redefine this project if I decide to do more than just give money?
What else am I missing?

Any and all help appreciated. Assume I know nothing. Thank you!

HedgeFundFilter and Tass-database

yoyo_nyc — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:22:20 -0800

Which hedge funds in or near NYC invest in life sciences and biotech? I am looking for hedge funds which fulfill the following criteria:

* based in or near NYC and CT
* Focus their investments in Health Care, Life Sciences, Biotechnology or chemistry/high tech related companies?

Maybe you are aware of such funds or maybe you have access to the TASS database or another database:
http://www.lipperweb.com/products/tass.asp

You can also email me:
hedge.50.yoyo_nyc@spamgourmet.com

Create a memorial fund

judith — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:22:56 -0800

How do you set up a memorial fund? A friend's father died suddenly and she'd like to set up a fund for his grandchildren's education and allow people to make contributions in lieu of flowers or whatever. Googling just gets me lots of links to other people's memorial funds, so I'm hoping some of you have been through this and can provide specific advice, steps to follow, liability issues, etc. Thanks!

They're too quiet about their good deeds

krisjohn — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:53:01 -0800

Help me promote an environmentally conscious, socially responsible small business. A small business that I'm a big fan of puts aside a proption of the profit from one of their products to be distributed to local (to them) environmental and educational causes. To me this is a huge deal, but they've not really pushed this aspect. In fact, I missed it for a year or so, despite having purchased the product in question.

Currently I'm involved in promoting this business and its products in general, but I'd like to do more with their environmental fund in particular. Are there places (online) where this business can be registered, promoted or generally discussed specifically because they give money to such causes?

They're environmentally and socially conscious in other ways too. A couple of examples: Currently they're hosting a discussion about paper recycling and they have previously rejected off-shoring their production to China even though it would be much cheaper.

Please pay for your coffee!

JigSawMan — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 08:17:43 -0800

How do I encourage more people to pay into the work coffee fund without actively guarding the coffee pot? OK, we have a coffee fund at work (higher education institution) which is 25¢ per cup, or a monthly price of $4.00. This is for coffee, tea, or hot cocoa beverages. In my opinion, this is more than reasonable pricing (side question: what are other coffee funds priced at?). The coffee fund was never meant to be a money-maker, just to pay for the supplies and upkeep of the equipment (Bunn coffee maker, microwave, fridge). Unfortunately, as my question hints, few individuals are paying for their drinks.

The appliances are in an open office area and nobody is officially in charge of monitoring the snack area. A student worker does make sure there is fresh coffee throughout the day, but there is nobody on hand to enforce payment. The payment location is simply a coffee cup on top of the coffee maker with an indication on it to deposit money there.

There is prominent sign on the coffee maker explaining the cost. Here is the text:

___________________________________________
Coffee, tea or hot chocolate drinks are all 25 cents per cup.

-Or-

A monthly price of 4 dollars.

Unless otherwise marked, all items in the refrigerator are not for sale.

Thank you for supporting this refreshment area.

All deposited funds are used to stock this refreshment area and maintain the appliances.
___________________________________________

What can I do to encourage more people to pay? I realize there are some people who simply view the coffee fund as their source for freebies, and will never pay unless strong-armed into it. I'm hoping there is a way to appeal to those who simply have gotten out of the habit of paying because nobody is actively pursuing them.

One idea I'm considering is change the deposit area from the opaque coffee cup into a clear container so that it is clearly visible that the money should be in there.

Investing for Dummies

jazzkat11 — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 09:32:20 -0800

Does it matter where you buy a mutual fund? Is there a difference between buying a mutual fund through its company versus buying through a third party?

Hypothetically, 'a friend,' is interested in a Vanguard index fund, VFINX. Is there any benefit from buying said fund directly through Vanguard, as opposed to buying the fund through a third party broker, let's say Scottrade, for example?

Would you pay a 2nd layer of management fees, Scottrade's on top of Vanguard's, based on this example?

Are there any perceived benefits from buying through a third party?

Where should I contribute?

cytherea — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 01:04:02 -0800

So, not that it matters, but, were I to make a paltry political contribution, what would be the most strategic fund for a donation? While my heart is naturally quite green, I'm interested in the best place to help the lesser of two ~~necessary~~ unavoidable evils.

Thank you!

Are college funds necessary?

patrickje — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 13:20:33 -0800

Are college funds necessary? I have two kids (4 and 5), and I don't think I'm going to set up college funds for them. I nor my brother had any support from family through college, and we both made it though (grants, loans, scholarships, jobs!).

I'm just interested in other people's experiences and whether people think that if a college fund can be set up it should. At this point, I think it's more character building and teaches children about 'real-life' more to have to do it themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I love my children and will always be there for them, but I just don't think giving them 100K to go college when they turn 18 is the best way, or is it?

How do you set up a Legal Defense Fund?

thebarron — Tue, 09 May 2006 21:40:56 -0800

How do you set up a Legal Defense Fund? I have a very good friend who is a legal bind and will very possibly be charged with three felonies as a result of a barroom brawl. He did not start the fight, but got “sucked in,” and while getting the "tar" beaten out of him, feared for his life, and resorted to using a small, pen knife with a 1" blade to fend off his attackers. He has always carried this penknife to use for everything from letter opening to repairing his dark glasses. All witnesses agree that he had nothing to do with starting the fight. Hence, a case of “being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” I, along with all of his friends and working colleagues, am thoroughly convinced that he will be able to either get the charges dropped or greatly reduced if he retains the best lawyer he can find. Obviously, this won't be cheap. He, his fiancée and her folks feel this will cost at least $10,000 to get something effective started. I agree. His fiancée and mother have sent out a mass email to all of us requesting financial assistance. They have asked that donations be sent directly to his bank account at a large, nationally known bank and have even provided the routing and account numbers. Even though I completely trust him, his fiancée, etc., I wonder if there is better, "safer" way, to set up this legal defense fund. I envision one where neither he, nor his lawyer, has direct access to the funds; rather a neutral, unconnected party could "meter out" the funds to the lawyer as required. In this day of so many "take the money and run" lawyers, and sensational news stories seen each year regarding somebody getting “taken to the cleaners” by a lawyer or other professional, I want to assist this great guy in the setup of this fund, and have everything "squeaky clean." That way nobody will have any questions regarding the possible impropriety of the intended purpose of the funds. Any assistance in how to get this off on the right track in a quick, legal and fair-to-all manner will be greatly appreciated!

I’m looking for help establishing a college fund for the children of a murder victim.

Doug — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 20:35:08 -0800

I’m looking for help establishing a college fund for the children of a murder victim. Here’s the situation: I learned last week that the 24 year old sister of my high school friend was murdered. It was a fairly high profile case in the Long Island area. The girl was the mother of a newborn, and a 5 year old son. This family has been through a lot even before this, and are really wonderful people, so my friends and I want to get together and do something for them. We don’t have a lot of money to give, but we would like to establish some kind of college fund. Unfortunately, none of us know where to begin to do something like this. Any information on what we should do, and how we should do it would be appreciated.

To complicate the matter, however, is the fact that the newborn is the child of the man who is suspected of killing her, and is now in the custody of that man’s family. Contact with him may be difficult, if not outright undesirable.

TIAA-CREF vs Fidelity investments?

nserrano — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 12:51:09 -0800

Currently I have at my work the option to choose between funds, TIAA-CREF and Fidelity investments. Since it is a non-profit organization they put in 6.5% of my salary plus anything else I want to contribute (it's a 403b). I have tried to do some research to see which company is better in the long run but can't find any information on TIAA-CREF besides that it used to be exclusively for teachers and federal employees. Does anyone know which investor I should get? I am looking for the greatest gain in the long run.

How to turn an idea into a business?

hummercash — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 17:24:45 -0800

I have an idea for a product/service. I've drawn out a rough business model and shown it to a few people who all think its a great idea but I'm having a few problems getting things rolling... more inside about funding the project, pitching it to major 'players' in certain industries, investors, etc Ideally I want to start up my own company and offer this service and these products to the public through my company, however, certain aspects of this idea would require several large companies/investors to get onboard. My other option is to sell this idea to a Google or Microsoft who already have the funds and industry connections needed to get this idea off the ground.

I don't want to share too many details about my idea so I was trying to think of a company w/ a good product/service plan that was similar to mine... I came up with Tivo. They sell their hardware and offer the subscription based service to those people who own the hardware. Something along those lines incase that info is needed...

So my questions:

Who should I contact? (just call their front desk, a certian department, etc?)
Do I need to file for patents?
How do I protect my idea from being 'ripped off' by these companies once I approach them with it?
What steps would I need to take in order to present this idea to companies and investors? (How would I go about pitching this idea)

TIA.

.//chris

How to design an indoor golfing

brent — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 13:34:13 -0800

What is the most affordable way to design an office miniature golf course? What reasonable obstacles or challenges would you build? Our company is having a fund raiser by having each floor build a challenging hole. Each of the four hall ways are carpeted. Teams of three will put once around using best ball rules. Creative designs are a bonus.

How do I fund spending a year in Europe?

gd779 — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 14:05:16 -0800

I'd like to spend a year in Europe. How can I fund it? [more inside]. Here's some information that may be useful: I'd like to leave around September, and I'd like to spend my time studying, researching, or working, though I prefer not to work too terribly hard since this is my "last harrah". I marginally prefer Eastern Europe to Western Europe. (Though, in truth, anywhere but North America would be fine). By September, I will be through with all but my last semester of law school at the University of Michigan, a top 10 law school. I also have a BS in Telecommunications, a Masters in Project Management, and four years experience as a technology consultant in a no-name consulting firm. I recently lived in Beijing for a year on government scholarship, where I taught English.