GUIDE WITH PRACTICE QUESTIONS,
ANSWERS, AND RATIONALES
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Rationales Included
,the financial effect of making student loan payments for the financial effect of making student loan payments for 20 years after graduating
20 years after graduating from college can be easily seen from college can be easily seen.
For example, a college graduate who owes $60,000 in student loans at 3%
interest will have to pay $332.76 per month for 20 years to get that paid off. If that
amount was instead diverted into a Roth IRA that grows at 6% for that same time
period (with no further contributions after 20 years), then the student would have
almost $600,000 of tax-free money by age 65. No poll or study is necessary to
see the enormous impact that student loan debt can have on a borrower's
retirement preparedness. (For more, see: Student Loans: What to Do When You
Can't Repay Them.)
Certificate of Deposit (CD) 1. a time deposit at a commercial bank and insured by the FDIC that restricts
holders from withdrawing funds on demand.
2. bears a maturity date ranging from one month to five years at a fixed interest
rate and can be issued in any denomination.
Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (NCD) 1. a large certificate of deposit that is typically purchased by institutional/company
(Jumbo CD) investors.
2. Unlike a regular CD, NCDs pay periodic interest, usually twice a year and
cannot be cashed in before reaching maturity, but can be easily sold in the open
market before that time.
3. minimum face value of $100,000, but typically are $1 million or more.
Treasury Bills (T-bills) 1. short-term securities that mature in 3-months, 6-months or 1-year.
2. exempt from state and local taxes.
3. purchased at less than par.
4. issued in denominations at $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, $100,000
and $1 million.
5. all Treasuries are considered to be risk-free (safest investments in the world).
Treasury Notes (T-notes) 1. a maturity between 1 and 10 years.
2. exempt from state and local taxes.
3. purchased at face value and pay out interest payments semi-annually.
4. bought through a bank or directly from US gov't.
5. can be sold in a large secondary market (liquidity).
Treasury Bond (T-Bond) 1. a maturity of more than 10 years.
2. exempt from state and local taxes.
3. purchased at face value and pay out interest payments semi-annually.
4. issued with a minimum denomination of $1,000 and maximum of $5 million.
5. After auction, bonds can be sold in the secondary market.
6. bonds can be bought directly from the government through TreasuryDirect at
http://www.treasurydirect.gov, thereby bypassing a broker.
, U.S. Savings Bonds 1. offer a fixed rate of interest over a fixed period of time.
2. not subject to state or local income taxes.
3. cannot be cashed until at least six months after purchase but maturity varies
somewhere between 15 to 30 years.
4. come in 8 values: $50, $75, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000.
5. purchased directly from the Dept of the Treasury but can be cashed out at most
banks.
6. must be an American citizen.
Municipal Bonds 1. are exempt from federal taxes and from most state and local taxes.
2. issued by a state, municipality or county to finance its capital expenditures (such
as the construction of highways, bridges or schools).
Zero-Coupon Bonds a type of bond that makes no coupon payments but instead is issued at a
considerable discount to par value.
Brady Bonds 1. are U.S. dollar denominated bonds that were issued by mainly Latin American
countries, with U.S. Government 30 year zero coupon bonds serving
as collateral to ensure payment of the principal.
2. were created in March of 1989 and named for the then U.S. Treasury Secretary,
Nicolas Brady.
Yankee Bonds a bond denominated in U.S. dollars that is publicly issued in the U.S. by foreign
banks and corporations. These bonds must be registered under the Securities Act
of
1933 with the SEC before they can be sold.
Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA), Traditional 1. Maximum contribution of $5,500 ($6,500 if you're age 50 or older), or your
taxable compensation if less with excess contributions taxed at 6% per year as
[There are several other types of IRAs: Roth SIMPLE and long as they remain in the account.
SEP IRAs.] 2. Can make contributions up to age 70 1/2.
3. Contributions may be tax deductible depending on the taxpayer's income, tax
filing status and coverage by an employer-sponsored retirement plan.
4. Distributions are taxed as income and any distributions before you age 59½
incur a 10% additional tax (You generally can make a tax-free withdrawal of
contributions if you do it before the due date for filing your tax return for the year
in which you made them).
5. Required Minimum Distributions (RMD's) at age 70 1/2 or a 50% excise tax on
the amount not distributed as required.
(Depending on income, an individual may be able to fit into a lower tax bracket
with tax-deductible contributions during working years and also be in a lower tax
bracket during retirement).