Official Finance/Economics Thread • Page 2

You have to keep in mind that credit bureaus have their own proprietary methods of calculating scores, and they all differ. They have different models and sometimes have different levels of access to your information. You can't necessarily compare them, especially since there's a lack of transparency as to how they're calculated. It's also impossible to say whether any given score "is more accurate" than another.

 

I use creditkarmaand think it's more or less accurate. IT's usually only a few points different, if different at all, from the score I get from one of my credit cards. If I'm not mistaken, the one from my credit card IS from one of the big 3 at annualcreditreport, so I assume it's legit.

 

anyone use mint?

 

Yes.

 

anyone use acorns?

 

The richest one per cent of Britons own 30 times the total wealth of the poorest fith - making the country one of the worlds most unequal, one report has shown!

The wealthiest 634,000 have nearly a quarter if all cash and assets, while the 13 million least well- off lay claim to juts 0.8 per cent, Charity Oxfam has found.

 

My pizza guy raised a pie up to 17 dollars because the minimum wage is going to be 15 soon, solid economics

 

IBD is the worst. Reading that paper drives me insane.

 

FEAR OF A CORPORATE PLANET 2.0

I just found out that the people who make your Mar's bars also own Dolmio and Uncle Bens. I've been saying for years that one day in the future that one vastly powerful cabal will merge with Government and the military and run the entire world!! Take Uni Lever for instance. That English/ Dutch company own over 400 brands including Dove, Hellmans, Flora, Magnum, Surf and eats up other companies as well. Did you know they also own Ben and Jerrys ice-cream? Which kind of goes against their happy go lucky family branded image.

You should also note that nearly all the world's massively commercial music is owned it in it's entirely by something like only 6 vast companies. . .

IS THIS something to fear or a blessing in disguise??? The only real question is will the world end up like some kind of Utopian Star trek like future, or some dark cyber punk hell like Syndicate???

 

And just for the record I'm not saying Mars or Uni Lever will end up owning the world. I was just using those companies as an example of how powerful a company can become by its many mergers and brand acquisitions. It stands to reason that one day there will be only one company, or at least only a very few huge corporations, owning everything and with the money to buy countries and Governments. I think that will be the state of play in about 100 years or less.

 

Does anyone have any links on progressive taxes? I'm writing a paper and just want to get some additional info

 

can you be more specific? what about progressive taxes?

 

Whether or not they reduce income inequality, and how so or how not

 

If there weren't so many loopholes they would help much more than they do today. They allow Donald Trump to pay no taxes for years and people like Warren Buffet to write this:
Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

This is an excellent read on how taxes have become less progressive for high-income earners in the US since 1960:
How Progressive is the U.S. Federal Tax System? A Historical and ...: Ingenta Connect

And here's a study which examines tax rates in the US and suggests changes to improve income inequality:
The Case for a Progressive Tax: From Basic Research to Policy Rec...: Ingenta Connect

I hope that's helpful.

 

This should've awesome. Thanks so much!

 

glad I could help

 

I'm clueless and I've been looking at the cost of an apartment vs a mortgage on a condo. Pros and cons? Obviously with a mortgage you're essentially locked in, but at least at the end of whatever contract you sign you're left with something instead of sending monthly apartment rent into the ether.

 

I mean, it really depends on future life plans just as much as the financial side of it. Think ahead in case you have to move out. Apartments offer more flexibility that way.

Keep in mind with condos you have to pay HOA fees and property taxes, which are usually not part of apartment rentals.

Condos can be harder to sell than houses too, so don't assume you're left with something valuable. Make sure you do due diligence on the HOA, they will control a lot of aspects of the future value of your unit.

 

Good to know. I figured it wasn't that simple. Probably doesn't help my case that I want to move out of this state in the future.

 

Just got a bonus at work and made a made a big payment to my student loans. So close to the end!

 

I am saving for a house at the moment. Would probably just be aswell buying somewhere as my money is making nothing in the bank...

 

If you want a better place to save, look into money market funds from somewhere like Vanguard.

 

I might have posted this already - where's the most trustworthy place to check my credit score? I tried something through my credit company and the website was useless. CreditKarma seems sketchy to me, too.