To write a strong follow-up letter or email, you can’t just dash off a few lines and hope for the best. The Benefits of Sending a Follow-Up Message An effective thank-you note does more than just express your appreciation. It helps you make the case for your candidacy and gives you another chance to impress the hiring manager. A Robert Half survey reported that 58% of hiring managers thought thank-you messages were somewhat helpful, and 22% said they were very helpful....

Among the renting population, the share that missed or delayed their rent payment in October (or only paid part of it,) rose to 10.9%—the highest for any month since April 2020, according to updated research released Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Research Institute for Housing America. As the chart below shows, the percentage has been growing for months, and is now nearly triple as large as the share of homeowners—3....

Learn when and how to file both Form 706 and Form 4768. When Is Form 706 Due? Form 706 must generally be filed along with any tax due within nine months of the decedent’s date of death. However, not every estate needs to file Form 706. It depends on the value of the estate. Who Must File Form 706? For decedents who died in 2022, Form 706 must be filed when their gross estate, plus any taxable gifts given during their lifetime, is valued at more than $12....

Since shortly after the pandemic began, 30 million children have received free breakfasts and lunches at school under a soon-to-expire federal relief program. The Department of Agriculture, which manages federal school meal programs, issued temporary regulatory waivers allowing districts to offer free meals to everyone during the pandemic, regardless of their income. Previously, paperwork for the program had required families to prove they qualified for free or reduced-price meals based on income guidelines....

By separating the two, retail banks were prohibited from using depositors’ funds for risky investments. Only 10% of their income could come from selling securities. They could underwrite government bonds. Most important to depositors, the act created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The law gave power to the Federal Reserve to regulate retail banks. It created the Federal Open Market Committee, allowing the Fed to better implement monetary policy. Glass-Steagall prohibited investment banks from having a controlling interest in retail banks....

These accounts are for people who have over $500,000 in assets. Their main function is to serve as safe storage while letting funds be moved in and out as needed for trades or buys. It helps to know a few details about how securities are traded so that you know what can go wrong. When you know the risks you face, you’ll see the plus side of a global custody account if you have enough assets to warrant the extra expense....

Here’s how COBRA and ACA Marketplace insurance compare. Health Insurance After a Job Loss COBRA is still offered to employees who are laid off or terminated from a job, but these days there is another more permanent solution. When you leave or lose your job, a window opens to the government’s Health Insurance Marketplace. You can use this window to shop for plans in your state or region. In recent years, open enrollment on the Marketplace has typically been restricted to the period from Nov....

Under the proposal outlined Wednesday, the government would provide free universal preschool and community college, establish a national paid family and medical leave program, create new subsidies for childcare, extend pandemic-era healthcare subsidies and tax credits, and reform the unemployment safety net. This $1.8 trillion package of reforms, named the American Families Plan, would be funded by raising taxes on high earners and closing various tax loopholes. Of course, it would all have to be approved by both chambers of Congress, including a Senate where the Democrats hold the narrowest possible advantage....

What Is an Installment Sale Land Contract? Land contracts began to disappear when loan requirements softened and mortgage rates dropped below 8%. But they have not vanished altogether and began to tiptoe back into the market during the mortgage crisis of 2007 to 2010. Previous homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure or sold through a short sale began to lean on land contracts as a financing alternative when the big banks turned them away....

Find out how a renovation can affect the value of your home equity, and whether borrowing money is a good idea when you’re taking on a renovation project. When Renovations Increase Your Home Equity Various home improvement projects can add equity to your home by improving its value, but some are better at accomplishing that than others. For instance, upgrading an outdated kitchen might make more sense (and appeal more to buyers) than adding an in-ground pool....

The first thing to understand is how Zillow arrives at a Zestimate, its name for a home value estimate. According to the site, Zestimates are based on a proprietary algorithm that incorporates public records and user-submitted data. However, a Zillow home value is not an appraisal and may not take into account all the data necessary to make it as accurate as possible. How Zillow’s Estimates Work Zillow acquires data from tax assessor and county records, real estate brokerages, and multiple listing services (MLS)....

Bond funds were created to allow investors to pool their money into accounts that were invested in bonds and managed by a professional in the hopes of generating more returns. If you are considering investing in bond funds, it is important to understand both how bonds function, and how a bond fund works. The Basics on Bonds When you purchase a bond, you become the lender. The entity that issued the bond takes responsibility for paying you back, with periodic interest payments....

While certain tax credits and deductions can help lessen the impact of paying for college, the IRS can be a little picky about the documentation it requires to substantiate those claims. You certainly want to claim all the deductions you can, but you don’t want to raise any potential red flags. Read on for a few steps parents, or students paying their own way, can take to ensure their tax forms are filled out properly....

Mortgages usually refer to home loans, but they can also be taken out for other types of land or property purchases. A mortgage that’s known as a refinance lets you borrow money against the value of your existing home. Learn more about how mortgages work, what’s included in a mortgage payment, the different types of mortgage programs, and how to apply for one. Breaking Down Your Monthly Mortgage Payment Include the four main components when you’re deciding if you can afford a monthly mortgage payment: principal, interest, taxes, and insurance....

Why Is Executive Compensation Different? Executive compensation is different from compensation for lower-level employees. The salary and other benefits are negotiated and are documented in a customized employment contract. This is because the senior leaders of an organization come from positions in other organizations where they made top dollar as increasingly senior leaders. They expect to make comparable compensation before considering a move to a different organization. The contract spells out compensation, benefits, perquisites (perks), performance bonuses, separation and severance agreements, and other special terms of employment....

If you have thin credit, bad credit, or complicated earnings, computerized approval programs may be quick to decline your application. It’s still possible to get approved with manual underwriting, though. The process is slightly cumbersome, but it’s a potential solution for borrowers who don’t fit the standard mold. Manual underwriting is a process of evaluating your ability to repay a loan. Instead of the decision being left to a computer algorithm, an individual or group of individuals will review your finances in detail to determine whether or not your application should be approved....

What Is Hospice Care? Hospice care focuses on palliative care—keeping the patient comfortable. When a person enters hospice care, the treatment of the medical condition with the goal of curing or forcing into remission ends. The specially trained team of professions focuses on providing physical, emotional, social, and spiritual support to the patient. The team of professionals may include doctors, nurses, counselors, social workers, speech and occupational therapists, aides, volunteers, and others depending on the patient’s needs....

Learn more about using mobile check deposit to conveniently get money into your bank account. What Is a Mobile Deposit? Mobile deposit is a way to deposit a check without physically going to the bank. By using a mobile device with a camera—such as a smartphone or a tablet—it’s easy to take a picture of the check, which is then uploaded through the bank’s mobile app. Mobile deposits are usually cleared within a matter of days....

When adopting a long-term viewpoint, you can use something called strategic asset allocation. This investment strategy determines what percentage of your investments should be in stocks vs. bonds. With this approach, you choose your investment mix based on historical measures of the rates of return and levels of volatility of different asset classes. (“Volatility” is risk as measured by short-term ups and downs.) For example, in the past, stocks have had a higher rate of return than bonds over the long term....

In some neighborhoods, that could be a 20% down payment on a new house for you and your spouse. You could create a hefty emergency fund from scratch and still have money left over to put toward retirement. You could jumpstart your progress toward one (or several) of your savings goals. Instead, many couples are choosing to spend this amount all in one lump—on one single day. That begs the question, how much should you spend on your wedding day?...