At the start of 2020, 36% of people who didn’t have life insurance intended to buy it. In May, that number jumped to 53%. In 2021, a Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA) study again found that 36% of uninsured people wanted to buy life insurance. Here’s more about whole life insurance to help you decide if it is a good option for you; also, it helps to know how it works....

A patchwork of requirements exist around reverse mortgages, including state and federal laws designed to protect borrowers. Learn more about how such rules and regulations may affect your ability to apply for a reverse mortgage. Qualifying for a Reverse Mortgage A variety of rules and regulations govern how someone qualifies for a reverse mortgage. For the most common kind of reverse mortgage, known as a home equity conversion mortgage (HECM), you must:...

Liquidate Risky Positions When some investors sense danger ahead, they follow along with the general sentiment and sell investments. Smart investors start by selling risky positions, like those with a high beta, or history of volatility, and those with new business models. Others sell their positions in even the most stable companies as protection against losses. However, experienced investors do not follow the nervous investors who rush to sell everything and sit at the sideline....

In many cases, as soon as you turn in your resignation, you’re done—your employer will ask you to hand over your work ID or badge and box up your personal items, and you will then be escorted to the door. What to Do Before You Resign Before you submit your resignation to your boss, it’s important to make sure you are prepared to leave. While you don’t want to give any indication that you’re moving on, like removing your photos from your desk or pictures from the wall, you can still discreetly clear out your desk and clean up your computer....

Here are the five things you need to do if your checkbook or wallet is stolen. 1. Call Your Bank, and Freeze Your Account First, call your bank and put a freeze on your account. Generally, a freeze will last as long as you are searching for the missing debit card or checkbook and find it, or until you notify the bank that they are permanently lost. This will temporarily stop all checks and debit transactions from going through in your account....

Here’s the short version of what happens when you get your first credit card: The credit card comes in the mail, you activate it, make purchases, get your credit card statement, and pay the bill. Knowing the details that happen in each step will help you avoid a lot of credit card fees, credit card debt, and long-term credit damage. Activating Your Credit Card Soon after you’re approved for your first credit card, your card issuer sends a credit card with your name on it to the address on your credit card application....

You have learned a lot about yourself since first choosing your career. If there were a chance to do it over again, perhaps you would pick something else. The good news is, you can do it over. This could be the best time in your life to make a career change. Why Age 30 is a Good Time for a Career Change At 30, you still have anywhere between 30 and 40 working years ahead of you....

However, since ETFs track an underlying index, investors will most likely see a larger return on their investment over a longer period. Some ETFs are close-ended and, therefore, carry extra management fees (known as the ETF’s expense ratio). Also, if you are actively trading ETFs, make sure to include commissions in your cost calculations, as even when trading is commission free, you must be aware of the bid-ask spread. Be aware of all related costs before purchasing an ETF....

Since it was first offered in March 2020, about 6.1 million borrowers have at some point taken advantage of forbearance, which is an option to stop making mortgage payments, or to make reduced payments for a period of time, without hurting the borrower’s credit. As of March 2021, about 2.2 million remained in forbearance, and when borrowers run out of time on their forbearance plans (a maximum of 18 months after they first took the option), a significant number of them could be seriously behind on their payments....

Let’s dig into some other tax deadlines, as well as how you can pay your taxes and what to do if you can’t pay by the due date. When To Pay Your Taxes Generally, federal tax returns and payments are due April 15, but that date can fluctuate. If the 15th is on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline will be shifted later. The IRS begins accepting tax returns in January, and if you are owed a refund, it’s to your benefit to file early so you can get the money sooner....

Day Trading Sessions and Impact on Volatility Due to global time zone differences, during the week there is always a market open for business somewhere. This is what makes forex trading available 24 hours a day. Not all markets actively trade all forex pairs, though. Therefore, different forex pairs are actively traded at different times of the day. When London (and Europe) are open for business, pairs that involve the Euro (EUR), British Pound (GBP) and Swiss Franc (CHF) are more actively traded....

The Benefits of Option Selling The most important benefit is that time is on your side. Options have a limited life. That life ticks by every day and it means that options are always losing time value. Options buyers certainly know that dilemma. It’s a bad feeling when you pick the right market direction but you still have a losing trade due to the evaporation of time value on your options....

By law, your credit card payment due date must fall on the same calendar day each month. For instance, your credit card payment might be due on the 5th of each month, rather than falling on the 5th one month, the 4th another month, and the 2nd the next month. Having your payment due on the same date each month makes it much easier to keep track of your bills, but one of those dates might fall on a weekend or a holiday....

Stocks and Sectors When interest rates are on the rise, the economy is typically nearing a peak, as the Federal Reserve raises rates when the economy appears to be growing too quickly, and thus inflation is a concern. Those who aim to time the market with sectors have the goal of capturing positive returns on the upside while preparing to protect against harder declines when the market turns down. Therefore, traders and investors may consider sectors that tend to perform best (fall in price the least) when the market and economy head downward....

Sometimes, however, home sellers can end up paying to close a deal. In fact, circumstances like this happen far more often than you might imagine. Let’s look at what could happen to put a seller in this position—and how you can cope if it happens. Not Enough Equity If you’ve owned your home less than two years and took out a type of mortgage loan that was greater than 90% of the purchase price, it’s possible you don’t have enough equity to pay closing costs on a new sale....

Basic Rules for IRAs A taxpayer must have earned income to contribute to an IRA. Rental income, dividend or interest income, or income from a deferred compensation plan doesn’t count under IRS rules. Annual contribution limits for 2022 are $6,000 per year, or $7,000 if you’re age 50 or older. For 2023, the limits are $6,500 for those under 50 and $7,500 for those aged 50 and older. These limits include contributions made to both Roth and traditional IRAs....

Should you aim to invest in those rare firms that have women calling the shots? Women in Leadership Roles Add to Profitability There’s too much research to ignore. Having more women in C-suite leadership roles leads to increased profitability. The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) reviewed 21,980 global publicly traded companies. These companies spanned 91 countries and were from a mix of industries and sectors. The results confirmed that having at least 30% of C-Suite positions as women add around 6% to a firm’s net profit margin....

Did you know that companies also have moats? They aren’t literal moats, they’re metaphorical ones. Learning about these moats can help you as an investor. In investing terms, the word “moat” mainly refers to a competitive advantage. To say that a company has a “wide moat” is to say that it has a unique edge over other companies in its industry. In a broader sense, it can be used to describe something in the company’s business that can protect it for the long term....

The employer will also try to determine if you are flexible, self-motivated, and able to manage your time and projects working without supervision. Remote Work Interview Questions and Answers Here are some typical interview questions for work-at-home job candidates and how to answer them: What are the advantages of a work-at-home position? You want to answer this question in a way that shows you’re productive and independent. What do you like best about working from home?...

Once you’ve got a system in place for writing your cover letters, it will make the process of applying for jobs much simpler. 5 Easy Steps for a Successful Cover Letter This guide gives you five steps to writing a winning cover letter. 1. Analyze the Job Listing Give the job listing a careful read to identify the areas where your own experience best matches up with the employer’s needs....