Personal finance

Three-day rule

I do not understand the mutual fund three-day rule. Say I sell shares of a fund on a certain date then wait for three days. Do I get paid for what the price was on the day I sold the shares or the price on the settlement date? Would the trade date be the day I sold the shares?

I am unfamiliar with a three-day rule for mutual funds. I am familiar with a three-day rule for stocks. If you sell securities, the securities must be delivered to the broker assuming that the broker does not hold the securities within three days. If you buy securities, the broker must receive the cost of the trade within three days.

You should always receive the buying or selling price for mutual fund trades on the day the trade took place. For mutual funds, the cutoff time for the trading day is usually 4 p.m. EST. Prices for mutual funds are set once daily at this time. Trades taking place after 4 p.m. will take place the next business day.

Andrew Zumwalt
Director of the MoTax Education Initiative

Job hunting at MU Extension

I am interested in working with MU Extension, but do not have a master's degree. Do you ever have any openings?

We have a variety of positions within MU Extension that require various levels of education and experience. Typically our regional faculty specialist positions require a master's degree, which are historically the only positions that were posted on the MU Extension Web site. However, over the past several months, we have begun posting many of the positions available throughout all of our Extension departments.

MU Extension is comprised of multiple departments, including:

Cooperative Extension
- 4-H
- Agriculture
- Business
- Community Development
- Human Environmental Sciences
Continuing Education
- MU Direct
- Center for Distance and Independent Study
- Fire and Rescue Training
- Missouri Training Institute
- MU Conference Office
- Other continuing education units
Administrative support departments
- Marketing
- News and information
- Information technology
- Human resources

To review vacancies within the various departments of MU Extension, I suggest visiting Career Opportunities with MU Extension and MU Human Resources. This will give you a thorough listing of all positions available throughout the Columbia campus.

Melinda Adams
Manager
Human Resource Support Services
MU Extension

Real estate bill of sale

Who can I contact to begin a search for the bill of sale of some real estate in Missouri?

Real estate transactions are kept by the recorder of deeds in each county. County government contact information is available on the National Association of Counties Web site, from local telephone listing or from directory assistance.

Historical records are also available from the secretary of state's office.

Eileen Yager
Extension Communications Officer

Small claims court

How long do I have to sue in small claims court after the agreed upon work was not accomplished? Additionally, if no contract was signed for the work completed, do I have any rights?

The Missouri Bar Web site provides a wealth of consumer information on legal matters.

Eileen Yager
Extension Communications Officer

Partial payment to creditors

If I cannot pay creditors the full amount of bills then legally what is the least amount I can pay them instead of filing bankruptcy? I am talking about payments of $60 to $80 a month to check cashing loans and personal loan places?

No laws apply to reduced payments that creditors have to accept without being ordered by the court to do so via bankruptcy.

If you can't make monthly payments, you may be eligible for a debt repayment plan through Consumer Debt Counseling or Consumer Credit Counseling Services. There is an 800 number to call and other contact information. They should be able to tell you the location nearest you and give you some initial advice over the phone.

I would caution you to be very careful about contacting other agencies that advertise on television. Sometimes there are hidden fees and other potential pitfalls that could make your situation worse.

I hope this helps. This service has been around for many years and is well respected in our field.

Brenda Procter
State Specialist
Personal Financial Planning

Updated 4/28/08