Hi Malcolm,

You didn't mention what type of loan you have. So, some of these methods may be better than others:

1) Call the lender. They can give you the current loan balance and the pay-off amount (they may be different numbers based on how the lender calculates interest).

2) If your lender provides a statement, the balance should be on the statement

3) If this is a loan from a 401(k) or other retirement plan, you may find the balance on your paycheck stub. Also, you should see the amount on your statement. If you need the current amount, you can also contact your HR department and they can give you the contact information for the plan's administrator.

Have a great holiday

Dear Tracie,

Congratulations on your new venture! You must be very excited. You are very smart to ask this question in the beginning. It shows how serious you are in launching your endeavour.

I can give you some general information here. However, you should sit down with someone specializing in Property and Casualty (or P&C) insurance to make sure you get the proper level and areas of coverage. I'm certain others will add to this list, however, here are a few areas you will need to consider:

• Liability coverage for the truck. This would be similar coverage to the liability coverage you would take out for any vehicle. However, there may be higher limits of liability required due to the commercial nature of the vehicle.
• Liability coverage for operating out of the truck (e.g. in case a customer is hurt by something falling from the truck)
• Product liability coverage in case someone claims illness from food (may be part of overall policy)
• If you have employees (even part time), you will need Workers' Comp insurance.
• If you do have emplyees (even contractors paid on 1099), make sure you are covered by any acts they may cause. In this way, if a contractor spills hot coffee on a customer, you will still be covered.

Now- if i can make a suggestion- nothing beats a good nutty tasting bran muffin while enjoying the morningpaper and coffee...... just saying.

Hi Brent,

There are a number of rules around ESOP payouts, and like other retirement plans, much depends on your age, reason for termination (retirement, disability, etc), etc. Like other retirement plans, companies can customize certain aspects of their plan, such as vesting, within certain parameters. Did the person you spoke to let you know when you would be eligible?

The first thing to do would be to request a copy of the Summary Plan Description document. This will layou tthe basic rules of your plan. You can request this from HR or the retirement group in the company.

Overall, here are some of the basic rules:

Retirement, death or disability- payments required to begin during the "plan year" (accounting period for the ESOP) following the year in which retirement, death or disability. Payments to be paid at least annually, and must be complete no later than five years after the first payment. An extension in the payout period (not when it must start) is allowed if your balance exceeds a certain amount. Termination or other reason- Payouts can wait until the 6th plan year after the year you left the company. An exception is if the plan was created prior to 1987. In this case, ESOP payouts do not have to begin until you reach retirement age. Also, the plan description will describe retirement age.

There are rules for distributions while still employed with the company. These are mainly to allow for diversification and dividends.

One general resource is http://www.nceo.org/articles/esop-participant-distribution-rules

Good luck.

Generally speaking, and presumably in the case of your grandmother's policy, life insurance is not income taxable. Depending on the ownership of policy, it may or may not be includable in her estate and thus could be estate taxable but based on how you've described her situation, it doesnt sound like here estate is large enough for that to be an issue.

Hi Gershom! Mutual funds have annual expense ratios published in the prospectus. Funds invest with different styles (growth, value, small cap, large cap, etc.) and in different asset classes (bonds vs stocks); and some specialize in sectors. Generally smaller, more focused funds might have fees larger than the larger funds with a broader portfolio, so it's important to compare apples to apples in determining reasonableness, i.e., how does a large cap fund compare with the fees of other large caps. Morningstar can provide some information on that. I have a guide available on this site on mutual fund expenses, including ones you don't see. You might also want to read some financial magazines, and even check their websites, regarding fund fees. If you're new to investing, you may want to consider a broad low-cost index fund and begin dollar-cost-averaging. Good luck!

Gershom,

The mutual fund company publishes a prospectus and fact sheet where you can find all of the information about the mutual fund share classes. If you go to the following link you will find a discussion of different share classes:

http://www.brightscope.com/financial-planning/advice/guide/2768/How-Different-Mutual-Fund-Share-Classes-Affect-Your-Retirment-Plan-Or-Investment-Portfolio/

A way of determining how a mutual fund performs and how he fund invests, you should go to www.morningstar.com . You can get some good basic information on the free site. If you want to upgrade your account to the plus version of their service, they have some very good information available to investors which only used to be available to investment professionals a few years ago.

While an investment advisor can help you interpret the data and guide you in your asset allocation decision, the more educated a client you are the better.

Toni,

Questions to ask, better in writing:

What are the internal expenses for the investments? What is his or her commission? When can I get out of the product?

This last question is very important. You may find that you can not get out of the product for some number of years (5, 7, 10, 12). There is often a contingent deferred sales charge if you get out prior to the date spelled out in the contract or fund prospectus.

The up-front commission could be 5%-over 10%. You are correct in assuming nothing is free, but rather the costs are hidden in the contract or prospectus.

You mentioned "Insurance Agent". And it sounds like he is recommending an insurance product or annuity These products pays the agent or broker and commission ( and maybe and "override") As of this writing this amount does not need to be disclosed according to the law.

Simply ask the advisor what their fees are; then become quiet and listen carefully to how they respond. Notice if their response is calm and clear - and if you UNDERSTAND what they are saying . If they are responding in an anxious manner, talking a lot and fast, using industry lingo that is confusing to you, it may be time consider a new advisor. BEST OF LUCK!

Remy, There are two sets of fees. Advisor fees and investment fees. Advisor fees are pretty easy to understand. Simply ask your advisor, what are the fees you charge me for services provided?? He should give you full and detailed disclosure. The answer should not be confusing. If it is, then it's not good. Good Luck Dan

Hi Remy, Thomas gives an excellent answer to this question. The only thing I would add would be to get it in writing. Ask your advisor to list all of the fees that you pay, as well as your advisor's total compensation, both monetary and non-monetary. This will not only help you determine your fees, but also help you understand if your advisor is being compensated by the very same investments they are recommending to you.

Excellent question Remy! It can be rather difficult to determine unless you know where to look. Here are a few approaches (one doesn't exclude the other): 1) make sure you ask your advisor directly "how are you compensated and how much do you earn from having me as a client." Make sure you're comfortable with the answers given, if not, continue asking. 2) If you work with an RIA Representative you should have received the company's regulatory filing, the so-called ADV, when you signed on. You will find all fee disclosures and calculation methods in the ADV. 3) Read the prospectus of every fund you invest in. Not only will it tell you about investment policies, fund managers etc., but also about fee structures and costs related to management of the fund and whether the advisor is compensated (e.g. through sale of A, B and C shares) 4) Check your statements and see if you can tease out the actual advisor compensation (this is not a reliable method yet, but soon it will be) 5) Best approach is to go with a fee-only advisor. You'll know right upfront how much you end up paying for the advisor's service.

Hi Rei, it used to be that the NASDAQ was a computerized trading platform and the NYSE was primarily human-based. But that distinction no longer matters much now that both trading platforms execute primarily electronically. The main distinction that matters now is that the NYSE has slightly more stringent listing requirements and membership fees. During the tech boom the different in listing requirements was more significant. It was those listing requirements (including profits, share float, etc) that traditionally led tech companies to list on the less stringent NASDAQ. Now that those are quite a lot more similar for the average investor the distinction is essentially meaningless and for the average pre-IPO company the same is becoming truer all the time.

Generally, mutual funds are too expensive and underperform and stocks are too risky for individual investors but there are many exceptions. I recommend using the most liquid and lowest-cost ETFs based on major indexes and find somewhere you can trade them commission free (like Schwab). Ultimately, however, it comes down to having the discipline to implement a successful investing program. Best of luck!

Home prices have been cut in half over the past five years or so in many markets. Add to that all-time record lows for interest rates and it's a damn good time to buy. Still, that may not help you very much in making a decision on a specific home. I'd suggest you look carefully at comps in the area but take it a step further: figure out what your all-in payment's going to be (include mortgage payment, taxes and insurance - http://www.mortgagecalculator.org/ is a decent little tool for this) assuming a 30-year loan and a normal 20% down payment. Then look at what similar homes in the area are renting for. If your all-in monthly payment is less than what you could rent the house for (meaning it's 'cash flow positive') you can probably feel confident you're not overpaying. This is just one measure; obviously there are many ways to look at it and other things to consider. But doing this will help you analyse the opportunity from a investor's perspective rather than from just an emotional one as most home buyers do and clearly did a few years ago.