Wills, Estates, and Trusts
I have nothing, I owe a great deal; the rest I give to the poor.— the purported will of Rabelais
Wills and Estates
- Intestacy, Wills, Trusts, Estates, and Probate: Overview
- Estate Planning Checklist
- Estate Planning for Digital Assets
- Nonprobate Transfers
- Joint Tenancy
- Dead Hand Control: Conditional Bequests and Devisements
- Probate and The Personal Representative
- Uniform Probate Code (UPC)
- Probate Estate Administration
- Personal Representatives (Executors and Administrators)
- Durable Power of Attorney
- Living Wills and the Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
Intestate Distribution
- Intestate Distribution Scheme: Descent and Distribution Statutes
- Intestate Distribution to Issue: Per Stirpes, Per Capita With Representation, and Per Capita At Each Generation
- Intestate Distribution to Ancestors and Collateral Relatives
- Who Qualifies as Issue of a Decedent?
- Uniform Parentage Act (UPA)
Limits to Testamentary Freedom
- Surviving Spouse
- Surviving Spouse Support: Pension Survival Benefits, Marital Property, Homestead and Personal Property Exemption, and the Family Allowance
- Elective Share of The Augmented Estate
- Community Property
- Omitted Spouse
- Omitted Children
Inheritance
- Gifts to Children: Advancements, Guardianships, Conservatorships, Custodianships, and Trusts
- Appointing a Personal Guardian and Leaving Property for Minor Children: Property Guardianships, Uniform Transfer to Minors Act Custodianships, Child's Trust and Family Pot Trusts, 529 and Coverdell Accounts, and Handling Life Insurance Proceeds for Minors
- Trusts for Minors
- Disclaimers
- Lapsed Gifts and Anti-Lapse Statutes
- Class Gifts
- Ademption, Avoidance of Ademption, and Abatement
- Bars To Inheritance: Homicide, Abuse, Or Abandonment
Wills: Execution and Probate
- Wills
- Will Execution: The Common Law Elements of The Wills Act Formalities
- Modern Trend in Wills Act Formalities: Substantial Compliance and Harmless Error Doctrines
- Will Components: Will Integration, Codicils, Incorporation By Reference, and Acts of Independent Significance
- Will Construction and Extrinsic Evidence: Plain Meaning Rule, Patent and Latent Ambiguities, Will Reformation
- Holographic Wills
- Will Revocation and Revival
- Fraud and Tortious Interference With An Expectancy of An Inheritance Or A Gift
- Will Contests
- Will Contests: Testamentary Capacity, Insane Delusion, and Undue Influence
- Will Contracts: Contracts to Provide for a Beneficiary, or to Not Change or Revoke a Will
- Will Substitutes (aka Nonprobate Instruments)
- Simplified Probate: Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit and Summary Probate Administration
- Pour-Over Wills
Trusts
- Trusts
- Trust Creation
- Mandatory and Discretionary Trusts
- Trust Modification and Termination
- Trusts and The Rights of Beneficiary Creditors; Spendthrift, Support, and Self-Settled Asset Protection Trusts
- Future Interests
- Powers of Appointment
- Trustees
- General and Specific Powers of the Trustee
- Prudent Investment of Trust Assets
- Trustee's Duty To Report
- Breach of Trust
- Rule Against Perpetuities
- Rule Against Perpetuities: Powers of Appointment, Saving Clause
- Rules Against Perpetuities: Modern Trend
Types of Trusts
- Living Trusts
- Special Needs Trusts and 529A (ABLE) Accounts
- AB Trusts and AB Disclaimer Trusts
- Qualified Terminal Interest Property (QTIP) Trusts
- Qualified Domestic Trusts (QDOT)
- Marital Trust
- Grantor-Retained Interest Trusts: Grantor-Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), Grantor-Retained Unitrusts (GRUTs), Grantor-Retained Income Trusts (GRITs), and Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Including Crummey Trusts
- Dynasty Trusts
- Charitable Trusts
- Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts
Gift, Estate, and Trust Taxes
Investment Fundamentals
What's the use of happiness? It can't buy you money.— Henny Youngman
- Investment Math: Arithmetic and Geometric Mean, Total Return, Return Relative, Currency Conversions, and Measuring Risk
- Nominal and Real Interest Rates
- Present Value and Future Value of Money
- Present Value and Future Value of an Annuity
- Dividend Discount Model (DDM)
- Investment Returns: Real Rate of Return and the Inflation Premium, Investment Risk and the Risk Premium, Holding Period Return (HPR), Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
- Investment Risks and the Risk-Return Trade-off
- Single Asset Risk: Standard Deviation and Coefficient of Variation
- Portfolio Risks and Returns; Covariance and the Coefficient of Correlation
- Capital Allocation Between A Risk-Free Asset and A Risky Asset
- Beta, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), and the Security Market Line (SML)
- Efficient Frontier of Portfolios
- Modern Portfolio Theory: the Efficient Frontier, Utility Scores, and Portfolio Betas
- The Single-Index Model For Security Returns
- Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT); Law of One Price
- Value at Risk (VaR)
- Portfolio Performance: Comparing Portfolio Returns using the Sharpe Ratio, Treynor Ratio, and Jensen's Alpha
- Formula Investment Plans: Dollar-Cost Averaging, Constant-Dollar Plan, Constant-Ratio Plan, Variable-Ratio Plan
- Random Walk and Efficient Market Hypotheses
- Market Anomalies
- Behavioral Finance
- Cash Flow
You can't buy love, but you can pay heavily for it.— Henny Youngman
Banking and Financial Institutions
If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.— Woody Allen
- Money
- Seigniorage - The Profit of Creating Money
- Inflation and the Money Supply
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- Financial System
- Financial Instruments
- Financial Markets
- Financial Institutions
- Payment Systems
- Information Asymmetry: Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard
- Financial Intermediation
- Depository Institutions (aka Banks)
- Types of Depository Institutions: Savings Institutions, Commercial Banks, Bank and Financial Holding Companies
- Nondepository Institutions: Insurance Companies, Pension Funds, Securities Firms, Government-Sponsored Enterprises, and Finance Companies
- Bank Balance Sheet: Assets, Liabilities, and Bank Capital
- Bank Profitability
- Bank Risks
- Government Deposit Insurance
- Bank Regulations and Supervision
- Bank Regulatory Capital
Central Banking
- Central Banks
- Central Bank Design
- Central Bank Transactions
- Money Supply and the Central Bank's Balance Sheet
- Money Supply and the Money Multiplier
- Monetary Policy
- Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Tools: Open Market Operations and Discount Lending
- European Central Bank Monetary Policy
- Quantitative Easing
- Monetary Policy Rules, Interest Rates, and Taylor's Rule
- Money Growth, Money Velocity, and Inflation
- Money Demand and Money Velocity
- Inflation and Employment
- Aggregate Expenditure, Economic Output, Inflation, and Monetary Policy Reactions
Foreign Exchange
- Economics of Foreign Exchange Rates
- Fixed Exchange Rates
- Unsterilized and Sterilized Foreign Exchange Interventions
- Hard Currency Pegs: Currency Boards and Dollarization
- Speculative Currency Attacks
Banking History
A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.— Mark Twain
- Money in Colonial America
- The First and Second Banks of the United States
- Free Banking and the National Banking Act of 1863
- Financial Panics and Bank Runs Before Deposit Insurance
Special Topics
Mutual Funds, Exchange-Traded Funds, Hedge Funds, and Limited Partnerships
Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy.— Groucho Marx
- Investment Funds
- Mutual Funds — A complete, but concise, tutorial about mutual funds in a one-page format with sidebars, illustrations, formulas, examples, and clear definitions of basic terms.
- The Mutual Fund Prospectus
- Mutual Fund Fees and Expenses
- Open-End Mutual Funds: Purchases, Reinvestments, Redemptions, and Taxes
- An Overview of the Types of Mutual Funds
- Taxation of Mutual Funds
Other Types of Funds
- Closed-End Mutual Funds
- Unit Investment Trusts (UITs)
- Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
- Defined-Maturity Bond Funds
- Index Funds
- Private Equity Funds
- Hedge Funds and Funds of Hedge Funds
- Managed Futures
- Fixed Annuities and Variable Annuities
Exchange-Traded Funds
- Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
- Exchange-Traded Fund Valuation: Net Asset Value, Indicative Value, Cash, and Shares Outstanding
Limited Partnerships
Bonds and Other Fixed Income Securities
Bond Fundamentals
- Nominal and Real Interest Rates; Compounded and Continuously Compounded Interest Rate Formulas
- The Present Value and Future Value of Money - Compare any investments — not just bonds — by calculating the present value and future value of money.
- The Present Value and Future Value of an Annuity - An annuity is a series of equal payments made in equal periods of time. Understanding annuities allows one to understand loans, and investments that make periodic payments, such as bonds.
- Complete Introduction to Bonds
- Bond Indentures
- Bond Yields
- Bond Pricing
- Investment Risks of Fixed Income Securities
- Bond Ratings and Credit Risk
- Volatility of Bond Prices In The Secondary Market
- Primary Corporate Bond Market
- Term Structure of interest Rates: the Expectation Hypothesis and the Liquidity Premium Theory
- Spot Rates, Forward Rates, and Bootstrapping
- Interest Rate Risk of Bonds; Full-Valuation Approach (aka Scenario Analysis)
- Duration and Convexity, with Illustrations and Formulas
- Bond Strategies
- Bond Funds
- Taxation of Bond Income
- Taxation of Options and Convertible Securities
Types of Bonds
- International Bonds
- Nonconventional Bonds
- Convertible Bonds
- Preferred Stock
- Fixed Rate Capital Securities (FRCS)
- Medium-Term Notes
- Eurobonds
Money Market Instruments
- Money Market Instruments
- Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
- Commercial Paper
- Repurchase Agreements (Repos)
- Federal Funds
- Bankers Acceptances (BAs)
Government Securities
- Municipal Bonds
- Types of Municipal Bonds
- Municipal Bond Markets
- United States Savings Bonds
- Agency Bonds and Government-Sponsored Entity (GSE) Bonds
- United States Treasury Securities: Bills, Notes, Bonds, Treasury-Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), and STRIPS
- United States Treasury Auctions
- Primary Market and Secondary Markets for United States Treasury Securities.
Corporate Bonds
- Corporate Bonds - An Introduction
- Corporate Bond Types: Mortgage Bonds, Collateral Trust Bonds, Equipment Trust Certificates (ETCs), Debentures, and Guaranteed Bonds
- High-Yield Bonds (aka Junk Bonds)
Asset-Backed Securities
- Asset-Backed Securities (ABS)
- Asset-Backed Securities (ABS): Structure
- Prepayment Models For Asset-Backed Securities
- Asset-Backed Securities (ABS): An Overview of Credit Ratings
- Asset-Backed Securities (ABS): Credit Analysis
- Special Purpose Entity (SPE)
- Credit Enhancements
- Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS)
- Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs)
- Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)
- Covered Bonds
- Credit Card Asset-Backed Securities
- Credit Card Asset-Backed Security Structure and Cash Flow Allocations
- Auto Loan and Auto Lease Asset-Backed Securities
- Auto Lease ABS; Titling Trust and Residual Risk
Derivatives
- Derivatives
- Death Bonds
- Forward Contracts
- Interest Rate Swaps and Interest Rate Options
- Credit Default Swaps (CDS)
- Overnight Index Swaps (OIS)
Bond Resources
Stocks
Don't gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it.— Will Rogers
Stock Fundamentals
- Stocks: Introduction
- Share Classes of Common Stock
- Common Stock Dividends
- Types of Stocks
- Margin
- Selling Short
Primary and Secondary Stock Market
- Investment Banking
- Selling New Securities
- Securities Exempt from Registration under the Securities Act of 1933
- The Secondary Stock Market
- Execution, Clearing, and Settlement
Stock Valuation
- Security Analysts and Their Recommendations
- Dividend Discount Model (DDM)
- The Present Value of Growth Opportunities, Earnings Retention Rate, and Dividend Payout Ratio
- Price/Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) and the PEG Ratio
- Equity Valuation: Book Value, Liquidation Value, and The Q Ratio
- Enterprise Value
- Earnings Yield (aka Earnings-Price Ratio, E/P Ratio)
- Discounted Cash Flow Formula
- Goodwill
- Economic Value Added (EVA)
Financial Ratios
- Financial Ratios
- Liquidity Measures: Net Working Capital, Current Ratio, Quick Ratio
- Activity Ratios: Accounts Receivable Turnover, Inventory Turnover, Total Asset Turnover
- Leverage Measures: Debt-Equity Ratios and Fixed-Charge Coverage Ratio
- Profitability Ratios: Net Profit Margin, Return On Assets (ROA), Return On Equity (ROE)
Stock Indexes
Specialized Topics
Options
- Options: Calls and Puts, an Illustrated Introduction with Color-Coded Examples.
- The Mechanics of Option Trading, Exercise, and Assignment; Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)
- Option-like Securities: Callable Bonds, Convertible Securities, and Warrants
- Theoretical Pricing Models: Binomial Option Pricing and The Black-Scholes Formula
- Put-Call Parity
- The Greeks: Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega, and Rho
- Volatility and Implied Volatility
- Employee Stock Options; Back-dated Options
- Index Options
- Interest Rate Options
- Exotic Options
- Binary Options
Option Strategies
- Option Strategies: Investment Strategies using Options, illustrated with Graphs and Examples.
- Covered Calls
- Vertical Option Spreads
- Straddles and Strangles: Non-Directional Option Strategies
- Butterfly and Condor Option Spreads
- Calendar Option Spreads
- Diagonal Option Spreads
- Dividend Spread Arbitrage
Special Option Topics
Futures
- Futures and Options on Futures — an Illustrated Tutorial
- The Institution of Futures Trading: The Futures Exchange, Clearinghouse, and the Futures Commission Merchant (FCM)
- Funding A Futures Account
- Futures Orders: Buying and Selling Futures Contracts on an Exchange
- Hedging
- Determination of Futures Prices: Spot-Futures Parity
- Futures Prices: Known Income, Cost of Carry, Convenience Yield
- Futures Prices Versus Expected Spot Prices: Expectation Hypothesis, Normal Backwardation, and Contango
- Financial Futures
- FX Futures
- Interest Rate Futures
Commodities
Forex
They say that money can't buy love, but it can greatly increase your prospects.— wcs
- Forex — An Introduction
- Foreign Currency Market
- Foreign Exchange History
- Economics of Foreign Exchange Rates
- Foreign Exchange Rates
- Currency Quotes, Bid/Ask Quotes, Quote Convention, and Cross Currency Quotes
- Currency Cross Rates and Triangular Arbitrage In The FX Spot Market
- How to Calculate Leverage, Margin, and Pip Values in Forex
- How To Choose A Forex Broker
- Forex Trading
- Rollovers, Interest Rate Differentials, and Value Dates; Carry Trade
- Fundamental Analysis
- FX Forwards
- FX Futures
- Exotic Options
Topics
Technical Analysis
If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars.— J. Paul Getty
- Technical Analysis: Overview
- Where are the Technical Analysts' Yachts?
- Dow Theory
- Technical Indicators
- Market Sentiment and Indicators
- Trends and Trendlines
- An Overview of Chart Types Used In Technical Analysis
- Bar Charts
- Candlestick Charts
- Point-and-Figure Charts
- Simple Moving Averages(SMA) and Exponential Moving Averages (EMA)
- Price Channels, Envelopes, and Bands
- Momentum and Momentum Indicators
- Ralph Nelson Elliot and the Elliot Wave Theory
- Elliot Wave Theory (EWT)
- Elliot Wave Theory Review