You can claim both credits and deductions on your tax return if you meet the qualifications for each. Learn what it takes to meet the qualifying rules for these two tax benefits. What’s the Difference Between Tax Credits and Tax Deductions? Tax deductions are considered less valuable than credits because they can only reduce the amount of income you’re taxed on. There’s the standard deduction, and there are itemized deductions....

Find out when a firing qualifies as a termination for cause and what happens next. What Is Termination for Cause? Termination for cause is the firing or letting go of an employee for a sufficient reason, such as misconduct. While termination for cause does not always imply misconduct on the part of the employee, in many places, including Texas, for example, it does. Reasons an employee could be terminated for cause could include:...

A few bad short sale agents can mess up the short sale apple cart for everybody else. Not all short sales are awful. Some short sales are much easier than others. But the complexity tends to boil down to the type of short sale. The type of short sale you could be facing — whether you’re buying or selling — depends almost entirely on the type of mortgage secured to the subject property....

For anyone worried about energy costs heading into winter (including the price of gas), this latest report provided a bright spot: Energy costs dropped 1.6% in November from October. Excluding more volatile food and energy prices, the core inflation rate edged 0.2% higher in November, down slightly from October’s 0.3% gain. It was up 6% from a year ago, but lower than the 6.3% the month before. The decline in inflation comes just as the Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day policy meeting, with a decision on interest rate hikes due tomorrow....

Checking in on the markets today, stocks are mixed as markets remain volatile in the wake of the Fed’s latest inflation-fighting moves and a “currency crisis.” We went into the weekend with stocks in sell-off mode as the Dow sank roughly 500 points in the course of the trading day Friday and just narrowly avoided ending in a bear market. With the Federal Reserve committed to raising interest rates in its fight against inflation, the likelihood of a recession (and the fears of one) have only gone up, and investors have a lot to worry about....

Even if you aren’t physically near any of the credit unions mentioned here, they might still serve your needs. Online banking makes managing your finances a breeze. Plus, when credit unions are part of a shared network, you can access your account from thousands of credit unions across the country by visiting the branch of another credit union to make deposits, withdrawals, get cashier’s checks, and more. No matter which federally insured credit union you choose, your deposits are insured by the U....

Types of Pension Payouts Under a defined-benefit pension plan, retirees can opt to receive payments from the plan in the form of an annuity (monthly payments) or a lump sum (a one-time payment of the whole amount you are owed). In general, annuities are preferable for pensioners who believe that they and their spouse will exceed the average life expectancy. This is because they feel confident that will live to receive future installments of the pension....

The companies that make the “best of” list are not at all random. Certain industries have specific economic, legal, and cultural benefits that make it possible for the components within them to compound money at rates far above average. These companies produce high total shareholder return even when the initial price-to-earnings ratio is not exactly cheap. This means the highest returning stocks are clustered around a tiny portion of the overall economy, producing annual out-performance of 1% to 5%, which is a staggering wealth differential over periods of 10, 25, 50, or more years....

Luis Alvarez/Getty Images It’s important to know the different options you have for buying and selling, which involves understanding bid and ask prices. Unlike most things that consumers purchase, stock prices are set by both the buyer and the seller. How Does the Bid-Ask System Work? The buyer states how much they’re willing to pay for the stock, which represents the bid price. The seller names their price, or ask price....

It’s a sign of the country’s bizarre economic situation that some economists, not to mention stock market traders, viewed the decline in unemployment to match 50-year lows as bad news: stocks fell Friday morning after the jobs report came out. That’s because continued hiring means the Federal Reserve will likely continue its campaign of sharp interest rate hikes that are intended to slow the economy down, and bring supply and demand into balance to cool inflation....

A Successful Budget Must Reflect Your Priorities Step one​ is not to make a budget. That’s step two. Step one is to sit back with a blank sheet of paper and reflect on the highest priorities in your life. What’s most important to you? What kind of life do you imagine for yourself? This step is crucial, so don’t skip it. You might spend several days thinking deeply about this question....

The amount of money people are spending on things (and by things we mean goods you can see and touch rather than airfare, a dinner out or getting medical treatment) has increased sharply in the pandemic, even if consumers pulled back a bit over the summer due to the fast-spreading delta variant of coronavirus, the chart below shows. In fact, these spending levels aren’t just higher than pre-pandemic levels, but about 8% higher than you’d expect if the growth trajectory before the pandemic had continued, according to Douglas Porter, an economist at BMO Capital Markets....

The Definition of Portability Portability is only available to married couples. The amount of the estate tax exemption that was not used for the deceased spouse’s estate can be transferred to the surviving spouse if the first spouse dies, and the value of their estate doesn’t use up all of the exemption. The surviving spouse can use the deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exemption plus their own exemption when the surviving spouse later dies....

The person making a revocable trust often acts as the trustee. This is in contrast to an irrevocable trust, where someone else must be appointed to this position. A successor trustee waits in the wings to take over your revocable trust when you can no longer manage the trust yourself. Responsibilities of a Successor Trustee Your successor trustee is responsible for settling your trust or continuing to manage it for you after your death....

In fact, Americans paid more than $120 billion in credit card interest and fees annually from 2018 to 2020, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) study. The true cost of carrying credit card debt depends on several factors. Learn what affects credit card debt’s expense and what you can do to reduce or eliminate it. How To Calculate Credit Card Interest Costs For most people, the interest that credit card companies charge is the largest, and sometimes the only, cost of using a credit card....

They are not thinking about the upfront work that went into preparing a home for sale. From pricing the home correctly to the home staging, photography, strategic marketing, broker tours, open houses, online promotions. Nope, what they see is an agent stuck a for sale sign in the yard and now their home is sold. End of story, in their book. Accepting a purchase offer is only partway to a conclusion....

If you are unhappy with your job, before turning in your resignation, take a look at these tips on how to keep your position. You don’t need to stay forever, but, if you can, you may want to stay at least until you have another job lined up because it’s harder to find a new position when you’re unemployed. Top 10 Tips for Keeping Your Job Try to Make the Job Work....

The quality and content of your offer is almost as important as how much you’re willing to pay for the property. Poorly written offers lessen the chance that buyers will get their offers accepted, and certain laws and rules can apply, so it’s critical to do your research and get it done right. You might need a manufactured home purchase agreement or one designed for a new construction residential purchase, depending on what you hope to purchase....

Advantages of a Flex-Work Schedule The advantages of a flexible work schedule for employees are clear and well-documented. So, plan to negotiate a flexible work schedule with your employer in mind. Will You Need to Negotiate? Increasingly, employee-friendly workplaces have flexible work arrangements written into their policies and procedures. Check your employee handbook and talk with the Human Resources staff. The trend has been for employers to increasingly support telecommuting and other flexible schedules, at least some of the time....

The average rate offered to homebuyers using a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage jolted to 5.41% from 5.22% the previous business day, while the average rate for the 15-year jumped to 4.46% from 4.32% the previous business day. Both hit their highest levels in more than two years. (Our daily mortgage rate data only goes back to April 2021, but our data on yearly highs and lows dates back to 2020, so we know rates hadn’t been higher in 2020....