Investments & Financial Planning

1 A 401(k) retirement plans - What does Vesting mean? 2 Are Certified Financial Planners registered ? 3 Are my Money Market Mutual funds insured ? 4 Are there websites that have information about the stock market Decimalization ? 5 Can I invest in Bullion coins ? 6 Can I still contribute to an IRA , if I contribute to a 401(k) retirement plan ? 7 Do Foreign Stock Markets use Decimalization or Fractional reporting ? 8 Do I need to buy foreign currency before I leave for my trip to Europe ? 9 Do I pay taxes on the money I contribute to my 401(k) retirement plan ? 10 Does Africa have a stock exchange ? 11 Does Asia have a stock exchange ? 12 Does Australia have an exchange ? 13 Does Canada have a stock exchange ? 14 Does India have a stock exchange ? 15 Does India have a stock exchange ? 16 Does it really make that big of a difference earning 8% or 10% on my investments ? 17 Does Italy have a stock exchange ? 18 Does the Middle East have a stock exchange ? 19 Doesn’t diversification reduce rather than increase an investment portfolio’s return? 20 During the Decimalization phase in period, will trading be done in decimals and fractions ? 21 Educational IRA - Contribution Due Date 22 Federal EE bonds - maximum purchase 23 How are Mutual funds distributions reported to the IRS ? 24 How does leverage enter into an investment in a home or other real estate investment? 25 How is a Basis point calculated ? 26 How is accrued interest calculated on a bond ? 27 How is interest on Federal I bonds calculated ? 28 How is the interest on EE bonds calculated ? 29 How is the interest on Federal EE and I bonds taxed ? 30 How long do Federal EE and I bonds earn interest for ? 31 How many months of income should be in my emergency fund ? 32 I bonds- maximum purchase 33 I invested in a mutual fund on Dec 12 and now found out I have substantial taxable gains in that fund even though at the end of the year the fund was worth about what I paid for it. How could that be? 34 In a money market fund , what is a Banker's Acceptance ? 35 In reference to a mutual fund , what is the Expense Ratio ? 36 In reference to a Mutual fund, what is the ( NAV ) net asset value ? 37 In reference to the stock market , what are Convertible securities ? 38 In reference to the stock market , what are Equity securities? 39 In reference to the stock market , what are Fixed income securities ? 40 In reference to the stock market , what are Money market instruments ? 41 In reference to the stock market , what are Warrants ? 42 In reference to the stock market , what is a Derivative ? 43 In reference to the stock market , what is Foreign securities risk? 44 In relation to mortgages , what is Negative Amortization ? 45 In relation to mutual funds , what is a Back end loan fund ? 46 In relation to mutual funds, what is backdating? 47 In relation to retirement plans, what is a 403(b) plan? 48 In relation to the banking industry , what is Capitalization ? 49 In relation to the mortgage process , what is the Graduated Repayment option ? 50 In relation to the stock market , what are 12-b expenses ? 51 In relation to the stock market , what are M1 M2 M3 indicators ? 52 In relation to the stock market , what are Money Markets ? 53 In relation to the stock market , what does Execution mean ? 54 In relation to the stock market , what does the expression Ex rights mean ? 55 In relation to the stock market , what is an Emerging Market ? 56 In relation to the stock market , what is an Initial Public Offering ? 57 In relation to the stock market , what is Book value per share ? 58 In relation to the stock market , what is Capitalization ? 59 In relation to the stock market , what is Hedge fund ? 60 In relation to the stock market , what is Interest rate risk ? 61 In relation to the stock market , what is the Annual Report ? 62 In relation to the stock market , what is the expression Ex-Dividend date mean ? 63 In terms of the stock market , what is the Instinet ? 64 In the bond market , what is a Indenture ? 65 In the commodities market , what is the spot price ? 66 In the newspaper what does x or x'd mean in the stock listings ? 67 In the newspaper what does xr and xw in the stock listings mean ? 68 In the options market , what is a " Alligator spread " ? 69 In the Stock Market , what does Margin mean ? 70 In the stock market , what is a " Boiler Room " ? 71 In the stock market calendar, what is the January barometer and January effect ? 72 Is it possible to reduce taxable Social Security benefits by shifting taxable or tax free investments into a tax deferred annuity ? 73 Is the cost I paid for an investment seminar deductible? 74 Is there a college tax savings strategy my grandparents can set up for me? 75 Is there a phone number for referrals to local ( CFPs ) Certified Financial Planners ? 76 Is there a Required minimum distribution from my retirement account ? 77 Is there a way for me to withdraw money from my IRA if I need it temporarily, and then put it back? 78 Is there a website for determining withdrawals from retirement fund to achieve a specific income level ? 79 Is there a website to check mutual funds risk ratings and portfolio allocation ? 80 My broker wants me to consider a Butterfly spread strategy , what is it ? 81 Should I buy a tax managed fund in an IRA or tax deferred account ? 82 Should I contribute to a traditional IRA or to my 401K plan at work ? 83 Should I invest the limited funds I have, or should I obtain the insurance coverage I need? 84 Should I sell my investments to pay off my nondeductible consumer debt ? 85 Should I take out a home equity loan to pay off my credit card balances? 86 Stock short sales - reported to the IRS ? 87 What are American Depositary Receipts ( ADRs ) ? 88 What are Arbitrage bonds ? 89 What are basket options packages ? 90 What are Blue Chip Stocks ? 91 What are CD's ( Certificate of Deposits ) ? 92 What are Death backed bonds ? 93 What are EE bonds? 94 What are inflation indexed US Treasuries ? 95 What are Investment-grade bonds ? 96 What are Penny stocks ? 97 What are Small-cap, Mid-cap and Large-cap stocks ? 98 What are some of the key reasons that investors fail ? 99 What are some of the steps to consider when selecting a mutual fund ? 100 What are some sources of funds if I am strapped for cash ? 101 What are the advantages of non-callable tax free bonds ? 102 What are the consequences of starting to save late in life rather than early on? 103 What are the different U.S. Stock Market indexes ? 104 What are the Uniform Transfer to Minors and Gift to Minors accounts ? 105 What are Treasury Bills ? 106 What are Treasury Bonds ? 107 What are Treasury Notes ? 108 What are Zero Coupon securities ? 109 What do the Mutual fund ratings mean ? 110 What do the Mutual funds Bond Type Abbreviations stand for ? 111 What do the Mutual funds Stock Type Abbreviations stand for ? 112 What does a stock broker do ? 113 What does it mean that the down payment on my home has an opportunity cost of money ? 114 What does Over the Counter mean as it relates to securities ? 115 What does the Canadian Exchange Group consist of ? 116 What exchange is known as the " BIG Board "? 117 What exchanges are located in Chicago ? 118 What happens to my 401(k) retirement plan when I change jobs ? 119 What is a " Put " option ? 120 What is a American Depositary Share ( ADS ) ? 121 What is a Basis point ? 122 What is a Bond ? 123 What is a Bond Rating ? 124 What is a Brokered Certificate of Deposit ? 125 What is a Bullish and Bearish stock market ? 126 What is a Call option? 127 What is a cash equivalent security ? 128 What is a Certificate of Deposit ? 129 What is a Closed end Mutual fund ? 130 What is a corporation poison pill ? 131 What is a Credit Rating ? 132 What is a Debenture ? 133 What is a Dividend reinvestment plan ? 134 What is a Employee Stock Ownership Plan ( ESOP ) ? 135 What is a Financial pyramid risk structure ? 136 What is a Futures contract ? 137 What is a junk bond fund and why might it be a worthy investment ? 138 What is a marketable security ? 139 What is a Money Market Mutual fund ? 140 What is a Money Market fund ? 141 What is a Mutual Fund ? 142 What is a mutual fund Load? 143 What is a Mutual Fund Underwriter ? 144 What is a No Load Mutual fund ? 145 What is a Open end Mutual Fund ? 146 What is a Prospectus as it relates to securities ? 147 What is a public corporation Leveraged buyout ? 148 What is a Put option? 149 What is a Pyramid scheme ? 150 What is a Real Time price quote ? 151 What is a Red Herring ? 152 What is a REIT and is it a good way to invest in real estate ? 153 What is a Reverse stock split strategy ? 154 What is a securities Power of Attorney ? 155 What is a securities Proxy ? 156 What is a Securities Stock Exchange ? 157 What is a Self-directed 401(k) retirement plan ? 158 What is a Series HH bond ? 159 What is a Stock Split ? 160 What is a Stop Order as it relates to securities ? 161 What is a tax managed fund ? 162 What is a Tender Offer as it relates to securities ? 163 What is a Unit Investment Trust ? 164 What is an American Depositary Receipt ( ADR ) ratio ? 165 What is an Index ? 166 What is an Intercommodity spread ? 167 What is an Investment letter ? 168 What is an Real Estate Investment Trust ( REIT ) ? 169 What is Arbitrage trading ? 170 What is Bond OID accretion ? 171 What is Commercial Paper ? 172 What is Common stock? 173 What is considered a " block " of stock ? 174 What is Decimalization ? 175 What is dollar cost averaging ? 176 What is Inflation risk ? 177 What is interest compounding ? 178 What is investment diversification ? 179 What is Leverage in relation to securities ? 180 What is Leveraged Recapitalization ? 181 What is Market risk ? 182 What is Maturity value as it relates to securities ? 183 What is Preferred stock? 184 What is Short Against the Box as it relates to securities ? 185 What is SIPC insurance ? 186 What is the Advance Computerized Execution System ( ACES ) ? 187 What is the American Stock Exchange ( AMEX ) ? 188 What is the Barron's confidence index ? 189 What is the Bid and Ask price in Nasdaq trading ? 190 What is the Cash Flow Dividend Ratio ? 191 What is the Consumer Price Index ? 192 What is the difference between HH and EE bonds ? 193 What is the difference between Market and Limit Orders in the stock market ? 194 What is the difference between the 2 rating numbers in a Mutual fund rating listing ? 195 What is the Dow Jones Average ? 196 What is the Face Value of a preferred stock ? 197 What is the federal reserve discount rate ? 198 What is the Goldman Sachs Convertible 100 index ? 199 What is the Hang Seng Index ? 200 What is the Institutional Brokers' Estimate System ? 201 What is the Intermarket Trading System ? 202 What is the International Monetary Fund ? 203 What is the Jensen index ? 204 What is the London InterBank Offer Rate ( LIBOR ) ? 205 What is the minimum purchase amount of Treasury securities? 206 What is the most amount of EE bonds I can buy a year? 207 What is the Nasdaq Composite index ? 208 What is the Nikkei Index ? 209 What is the Price Dividend ratio ? 210 What is the Price Earnings Ratio? 211 What is the Prime rate ? 212 What is the Repurchase of stock strategy ? 213 What is the Russell 3000 index ? 214 What is the Securities & Exchange Commission EDGAR ? 215 What is the Standard & Poors' 500 index ? 216 What is the Striking Price? 217 What is the Wilshire 5000 index ? 218 What stock exchanges exist in Europe? 219 What types of Mutual Funds are there ? 220 Where can I find interest rates for zero coupon bonds and Strips ? 221 Where do American Depositary Receipts ( ADRs ) trade ? 222 Where is the COMEX located ? 223 Who sets the Initial margin requirement ? 224 Why are my gross proceeds so high on my brokers statement , I did not make that much of a profit this year . 225 Why do the Foreign Exchange Rates that I see in newspapers seem to be better than my own bank rates ? 226 Why don't my option sales appear on my form 1099 ? 227 Why is Decimalization being implemented in the Stock Exchanges ? 228 Will the Euro currency effect my travel to Europe plans ?