Hero Images/Getty Images To get better results, you need to learn how to manage risk successfully. There are four primary ways to manage investment risk. The best risk management approach in retirement employs all four. Avoid Risk You always have the option to avoid investment risk by choosing only safe, guaranteed retirement income investments. Choosing to avoid risk is one of the smartest decisions you can make until you have learned the skills you will need to manage risk appropriately....

Know How Much You Owe Make a list of your debts, including the creditor, total amount of the debt, monthly payment, interest rate, and due date. You can use your credit report to confirm the debts on your list. Having all the debts in front of you will allow you to see the bigger picture and stay aware of your complete debt picture. Debt reduction software can make this process easier....

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc / Getty Images Put Together a Retirement Income Plan A retirement income plan is a timeline that shows you how much income you will have, what sources it will come from and when each source starts. It includes Social Security, pensions, annuities, anticipated savings, and investment account withdrawals and projected retirement account withdrawals. Once this plan is in place, you can decide if you must reduce expenses, find additional work, or if you’ll be just fine as things are....

The decedent’s estate planning documents might include a last will and testament as well as and funeral, cremation, burial, or memorial instructions. They might include a revocable living trust. The original documents should be stored in a safe place until they can be given to the estate attorney. The decedent’s important papers will include information about their assets, including: Bank and brokerage statementsStock and bond certificatesLife insurance policiesCorporate recordsCar and boat titlesDeeds to real estate...

Co-signing a loan or credit card basically tells the bank that you’re willing to make payments if the other person doesn’t. It also means the bank can pursue you for payment even if the other person files bankruptcy or dies before the debt is paid. By co-signing a loan, you assume responsibility for the debt just as if it were yours alone. As a general rule, lenders won’t remove your name from a co-signed debt unless the other person has demonstrated they can handle the loan on their own....

Home equity loan repayments typically are fixed payments over a set period of time. Find out how home equity loan repayment works, how you can calculate your payments, and more about alternatives to making regular payments. What To Know About Home Equity Loan Repayment After you close on your home equity loan, you can expect to start making payments within two months of closing, as you would with a first mortgage....

Learn more about how you can access SEDAR and identify key filings to assist in your due diligence for Canadian companies. How Does SEDAR Work? SEDAR is an acronym for System for Electric Document Analysis and Retrieval. The database is run by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), which regulates securities in Canada. SEDAR works very much the same as the U.S. SEC’s EDGAR database. Canadian companies must use SEDAR to file documents such as financial statements and prospectuses in PDF format....

Difference Between a Land Contract and a Mortgage Land contracts are security agreements between a seller, known as a vendor, and a buyer, known as a vendee. The vendor carries the financing for the vendee, which may or may not contain an underlying loan. A main difference between a land contract and a mortgage is the buyer does not receive a deed or clear title to the property until the land contract is paid off....

Not only will a repayment plan keep you on task, but it will also help you stay motivated since you’ll be able to see real progress. Another plus of a debt repayment plan? By applying your extra money to one debt at a time, you will significantly speed up the debt repayment process. If you set up and stick to a debt repayment plan, you may be surprised at how quickly each debt will disappear....

When Does It Make Sense to Stop Benefits? You may want to pause SSA payments if: You Have Not Yet Reached Your Full Retirement Age (FRA) You can start getting paid your full SSA benefit amount at your full retirement age (FRA). This is based on your birth year. For instance, suppose you were born in 1957 and started getting benefits at age 62. You would get a lower amount than at your FRA of 66 years and 6 months....

Get a Great Travel Rewards Credit Card—or Two You generally need to have excellent credit to qualify for the best travel rewards credit cards. If you don’t have excellent credit right now, work on improving your credit by taking care of past due balances and building up a positive payment history. There are generally two types of travel rewards credit cards: general purpose credit cards that pay higher rewards on all travel purchases and brand-specific credit cards that pay higher rewards on purchases with a specific airline or hotel....

But if you’re rebuilding your credit score or starting from scratch, it can be difficult to get approved for a credit card in the first place. And, once you do have a credit card, it’s easy to damage your credit score and make it worse than before you started, especially if you don’t know the best ways to manage your credit cards. Luckily, learning how to manage your credit cards well isn’t rocket science....

If you prefer shopping with a debit card, it might even be wiser to run payments through PayPal. Doing so protects your card information by creating a layer between your checking account and the merchants you shop with online, instead of swiping your card or punching in number, which creates security risks. In a world of hackers and constant data breaches, it’s nice to insulate your checking account from trouble....

Grants To Fund Your Small Business Grants typically are distributed by individuals, businesses, and federal, state, or local governments and organizations. The most noteworthy benefit of a grant is that it doesn’t need to be repaid. Once you receive the funds, they’re yours to put toward your business. You don’t have to worry about making monthly payments with interest to pay it back. If you’re a startup or newer business with limited capital, grants can be invaluable....

Using your credit card responsibly improves your credit score. Active and responsible credit card use helps you build a good credit score. After months of using your credit card and paying the bill on time, your credit rating goes higher and higher, allowing you to qualify for the lowest interest rates on new credit cards and loans. Below are a few of the benefits. Earn More Rewards The benefits of using your credit card for everything increase when you use a credit card that has rewards....

Products and services and your unique selling proposition (USP)Pricing strategySales and distribution planAdvertising and promotions plan The easiest way to develop your marketing plan is to work through each of these sections, referring to the market research you completed when you were writing the previous sections of the business plan. (Note that if you are developing a marketing plan on its own, rather than as part of a business plan, you will also need to include a target market and a competitors’ analysis section....

To qualify for a loan, you’ll need to have good credit, a decent debt-to-income ratio, steady employment, and cash reserves. If you’re missing any of things—or many others—your bank may ask for a letter of explanation (LOE) for the mortgage. This is an opportunity to tell your lender more details about your financial situation so they can determine if they should lend to you despite any shortcomings. Learn more about why you need a letter of explanation and how to draft one so that it has a better chance of success....

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Humana Health Insurance Company provides health, dental, Medicare and group health insurance plans in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. It has excellent financial strength ratings from these top insurance rating organizations: · A.M. Best – “A Excellent” · Moody’s Investor Service – “A1 Upper-medium rating with low credit risk” · Standard & Poor’s (S&P) – “A+ Strong” · Fitch – “AA- Very Strong” Humana Insurance also received a J....

Index funds are designed to track either a single index or the stock market’s performance as a whole. Because there are no active managers trying to “beat the market,” index funds can often provide strong returns at a very low cost. Save Money With Low-Cost Index Funds Most types of sponsored or managed funds or accounts charge fees to cover the work of their brokers or managers. It follows that those with less hands-on work cost less to maintain....

In a welcome surprise, prices for presents like toys, jewelry, and clothing have risen slower than the overall annual inflation rate of 7.1%. Meanwhile computers and smartphones have actually dropped in price, providing holiday shoppers and their wallets some relief from skyrocketing travel costs. Airfare will cost you roughly 36% more than last year’s holiday season, and visiting your relatives by car will also be pricier as gasoline prices have risen nearly 10% since 2021....