A few reasons that such vehicles are designed the way they are:

• Legacy/history of vehicles that were all function, like original Jeeps, Land Rover Discoveries that go back 60-70 years

• Aerodynamics don't matter much for vehicles going slow through rough terrain

• straight edges and sharp corners make it easier to navigate terrain without hitting rocks, trees, etc. When you know the edge is then straight down vs. tapering then it's easier to navigate through tricky spots without damaging the body

• Maximizes space inside, flat surfaces to strap gear outside

What reason did financial planner give for leasing? Because in general it costs more in the long run to lease, as you're either always paying for the highest depreciation period of car ownership or paying unnecessary additional lease fees (acquisition fees and such) if you plan to buy it out at the end anyway, plus paying higher used car financing for the purchase at lease end.

Only way I could possibly see it being beneficial is if you own a business and lease the vehicle through the business.

Except today, lease rates are sky high since vehicles are selling at or even above MSRP and interest rates are high. It's not like you can lease a BMW for $399/mo. anymore.

The debt is owned to investors who buy government bonds. Individuals can buy them, but most are owned by institutional investors like mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, university endowments. If the government were to default -- refuse to pay the interest or principal owed -- then investors would no longer buy government bonds and that was severely damage the government's ability to operate, throwing the entire world into economic catastrophe worse than the Great Recession.

It means heath insurance that covers every citizen. No matter their employer or whether they even have a job. Everybody has health insurance coverage.

Equity is the value of the home, minus the balance of the mortgage loan. So if you put down 10% when you buy, you start with 10% equity. Your equity would then grow as you pay down the mortgage and as the home value appreciates.

When you build enough equity, you can borrow against it. This is sometimes called a home equity loan or second mortgage. Say you've been paying down your mortgage for a few years, and home prices have increased since you bought so your equity in your home has grown from 10% to 40%. You could borrow 20% of your home's value (home equity lenders typically require 20% equity to remain). A common use is to upgrade or do large capital projects on the home, like paying for a new roof or remodeling the kitchen. But people can also use the money to buy a rental property, fund a new business, buy a car, etc. too.

Not sure what your dad's comment about insurance and equity have to do with each other, so either you misunderstood what he was complaining about or he doesn't understand something.

It’s extra. The term is typically associated with budgets, whether a business or government. If the government spends less than it brings in with tax revenue and fees, it runs a surplus (instead of a defective when it spends more than it takes in). A business department gets an annual budget to spend for salaries, equipment, supplies, vendors, etc and if they don’t spend it all then they have a budget surplus. You’ll often see people responsible for a budget avoid a surplus because it is likely to lead to a smaller budget in subsequent years.

The lid retains heat and pressure inside the pot, which causes the water to boil more quickly than if the surface were touching room temp air and the pressure didn't build.

Large scale companies have much more complex websites, have graphic designers, front end coders, back end programmers, UX designers to build the websites, and multiple of each role because there is a lot of changes being made, tests being run, issues being fixed. There are also IT people managing the servers or AWS/Azure environment, managing databases, cybersecurity, etc. and people who monitor sites, run analytics, and such.

Then there are tons of sales people/account reps working with companies to manage profiles and set up job listings, tons of support people screening job postings, providing customer service to job seekers.

Then there are the roles all companies have — marketing departments, accounting department, HR, legal, IT and such…

Many consumers want brand name products... they're loyal to the brand, not the store. They'll just go elsewhere if you don't what they have today, and you forego any additional items they may buy. Say somebody is out of their deodorant and decides to go to Target for it. But they then also remember they need more Band-Aids, they may as well grab some cereal since they're running low, a bottle of wine when they see it on an end cap, and a couple throw pillows that are cute. That $4 deodorant run netted $75. Now, imagine the customer knew Target didn't carry their brand and they went to Walgreen's instead... $0 instead of $75.

Plus, you're more likely to convert a customer to the store brand by having the name brand next to it for direct comparison. Somebody comes in for a bottle of Tylenol or bag of Domino sugar sees the store brand that's only 2/3 the price for same amount, and they can compare to see it's exactly the same ingredients so they decide to switch. Without the brand name for comparison, the customer might not be willing to pull the trigger.

But you do see some stores that do almost entirely move away from name brands and are successful... look at Aldi or Trader Joe's.

When a product is marked up, much of that difference goes to covering other expenses... rent, employee labor, utilities, condiments (milk, sugar, cinnamon), loyalty/rewards programs, marketing in general, etc. So there isn't a ton of profit left after all that. After all that, maybe 10% is left.

Rates go up based on expected costs to cover... if parts and repair labor costs go up, so does insurance. If replacement vehicle costs in case of vehicle being totaled go up (and check out the insane increase in used car prices the past couple years), then insurance goes up. If natural disasters damage/destroy vehicles more often, insurance rates go up. If theft rates go up (looking at you, Kia and Hyundai), then rates go up. And then there is simple inflation... when it costs more to hire employees, to rent offices, pay for office supplies, etc. then costs go up.

A few things:

• Knowledge has to be material, eg. significant to company's prospects/fortunes

• All trades by C-level execs, board members have to be reported, date and quantity

• There is a reason that shares are often granted by board at set times in lieu of top level people buying on open market

• Similarly, top execs often have set recurring sales set up for their spending, asset diversification purposes. So a CEO might automatically sell 1000 shares the Friday after each earnings call so it's easy to see that it's a recurring trade and not a sale because something is wrong

• Companies have "Quiet Periods" where employees, execs, board members, etc. CANNOT trade. These are in weeks leading up to quarterly earnings, before a major acquisition, before a major lawsuit concludes, and such.

They cover up uneven cuts on partial flooring boards, tile, etc. along the edges of a room.

Banks pay you a small amount of interest for putting money into savings, CDs, etc. while charging customers a higher rate of interest to customers who borrow for home mortgages, car loans, credit cards, business loans. That spread is their income. So you put money into your savings account and get 2% interest on it, and they then lend at 6% for a mortgage, or charge 20% on credit card balances.

It is basically the income equivalent of a company benefit, for income calculation/taxation purposes. Like if you got a company car and used it 50% for work, but also 50% for personal use and the lease was $500/mo, then you'd have to report $250/mo. (or $,3000 a year) as income because use of the car was a form of compensation worth $3000.

The reCaptcha is actually tracking mouse movements prior to clicking the button to see if they're human-like or bot-like.

A couple things... one Dental insurance is entirely seperate and different from Health insurance, and has fairly low caps on what it covers annually.

But fixing a tooth isn't the same as just seeing a doctor, its more like a medical procedure and a medical procedure could easily cost you $1000's out of pocket if you haven't hit your deductible. Your twice annual exam/cleaning is like a regular visit and those have a nominal cost with insurance typically.

Some are,.. the Fisker Ocean has them. But they the amount of surface area generates so little power relative to needs of vehicle, especially since it’s often parked inside a garage, or night time, or cloudy. They cost a lot, would be expensive to repair if damaged.

It's considered an obligation of service to our society/government.. just as we pay taxes, abide by laws, vote, etc. If we want to have access to a jury trial when we're the one being accused or a party in a lawsuit, we need to also be willing to serve on a jury.

Usually, it's not too hard to defer a jury duty summons if there's a legitimate reason, like being out of town, medical issue, lack of childcare, etc.

In the US, a university is a collection of colleges and graduate programs. It might have a general arts & sciences college (where one would major in things like literature, political science, psychology, chemistry, art history, etc.), some other specialize undergrad colleges/schools in programs like engineering, architecture, nursing, as well as graduate masters and PhD programs, law school, medical school, business school, and such. Smaller institutions that don't offer all the specialized schools and/or professional schools may call themselves colleges but issue bachelors degrees and perhaps Masters and PhD is arts & sciences type subjects.

Going to college in the US means a 4-year bachelors degree program, typically from roughly 18-22 years old. High school is the highest level of universal education, grades 9-12 (ages 14-18).

It's a way for lenders to quickly assess your creditworthiness so they can make a decision whether to lend you money, how much, and at what interest rate.

It's based on factors from your credit report, such as length of credit history; types of credit/loans (do you have a history with credit cards, car loans, mortgages, etc); credit utilization (how much of your credit cards' allowable balance limit is filled); any negative actions/comments (bankruptcies, account charge offs/negotiated settlements, car reposessions, home foreclosures, etc.); number of accounts you have; recent hard credit pulls (could indicate other loan in-process or recently set up beyond what's reported on credit report).

In the past, lenders reviewed the reports, but there were individual biases, subjective criteria used by different loan officers, and it took time to read through pages of documents. By using an algorithm to spit out a more standardize score between 300-850, lenders can usually make instant decisions to approve you for a credit card, car loan or such and with what kind of interest rate.

An undergraduate degree is a bachelors degree (typical 4-year college degree). A graduate degree is a masters, doctrorate (PhD), or professional degree like MD (medicine), JD (law), MBA (business) one gets after a bachelors.

The idea that you have those at top of military and top of defense contractors working to keep their influence high… military demanding ever increasing budgets and new weapons, vehicles, etc. while the defense contractors making them lobby Congress to help the cause.

And you’ll often see high ranking military or elected officials go to work for defense contractors as lobbyists or other high paid positions when they want higher income, so their work while in government is often looking forward to personal enrichment by doing favors vs. actual best interests of military/country.

Are you talking about a new home or pre-existing home?

For a pre-existing home, the purchase price goes to the seller and their mortgage lender. Let’s say the sale is for $400k and they still owe $150k on their mortgage. The seller would receive $250k and their mortgage holder would get the remaining $150k owed to them.

For a new home, the money would go to the developer/builder. They would then pay the construction workers they hired to build the house, pay the loans they used to fund the construction and land purchase, etc.

Typically, a home sale has 5-6% sales commissions paid by the seller. That amount is split between the buyer’s agent and seller’s agent, who them pay a chunk to their brokerage (Keller Williams, Century 21, etc)

They only restrict it to all people who are willing to pay $60/yr...

Basically, their entire business model is effectively selling goods at cost and making their profits from the membership fees.

Are there people who don't shop there because they don't want to pay the fee? Sure... but those who do pay the fee are more brand loyal and shop there more. There are efficiencies from selling more stuff to fewer people than trying to serve more people.