He started his journalism career working as a reporter for daily newspapers in Florida and Maryland. In 2000, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he covered Congress for Communications Daily, a leading trade journal in the telecommunications industry. In 2005, Terry moved to public affairs, working as a press secretary for the House Energy & Commerce Committee and as a communications director for the House Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming....

The NAHB’s index, which measures builder confidence, fell 2 points from November to December, to a reading of 31 points on a scale of 100. At the height of the pandemic housing boom, that number sat at 90. It hasn’t fallen this low since COVID-19 shutdowns sent the economy into a short recession that ended in April 2020. Over the past year, what was a red-hot seller’s market has taken a dramatic turn....

But choosing a professional can feel like an equally daunting and confusing task. There are a lot of people who claim to be experts, many of whom have official-sounding designations after their names. There are also a lot of horror stories about parents getting scammed out of hundreds or thousands of dollars by professionals who did not perform as advertised. Here’s a primer on some of the more credible designations you may want to consider if you’re shopping for help....

The quality of your broker and your brokerage firm are key to a successful experience in investing. Whether you choose a stockbroker, commodities broker, futures broker, bond broker, or an all-purpose brokerage firm, it’s important to know how to select the folks who are going to help you reach your goals. This broker guide for new investors explains some of the things you need to look for when selecting a brokerage firm....

When an employee needs to take time off from work, the PTO policy enables a certain amount of the time off to be paid hours. The employee may use the PTO at their discretion, whether they need the time for doctor’s appointments, kid’s school conferences, to pick Johnny up at the bus stop, to wait for a furnace repairman to arrive, or to recover from the flu. The time use is no longer the business of the employer, which is another step in the direction of treating employees like the adult people they are....

Why are student loan servicers quitting? Because it’s not worth the trouble, they say. An estimated 92% of all student loan debt is owned by the government, but the feds don’t send out bills or answer customer service calls. That job is outsourced to private companies who contract with the Department of Education. However, three of the biggest companies—Navient, Granite State, and FedLoan—have announced recently that they’re getting out of the business, which means the borrowers assigned to them are being transferred to other companies....

How much of your contributions you can claim as a credit depends on your adjusted gross income (AGI) and your federal income tax filing status. Learn more about qualifying for and claiming the Saver’s Credit on your federal income taxes. Qualifying for the Saver’s Credit You can include contributions to just about any type of retirement plan when claiming the credit, including contributions to a: 401(k) plan Traditional or Roth IRA 403(b) or 457(b) plan SARSEP or SIMPLE plan Thrift Savings Plan 501(c)(18)(D) plan ABLE account for which you are the designated beneficiary...

Types of Car Insurance Coverage One of the reasons car insurance can seem complicated is that it can include several different types of coverage. Most states have minimum coverage requirements, and you can add additional coverage to help you cover costs in more situations. Here are the types of coverage you’ll see in auto insurance policies. Liability This is essential coverage in most states. Your policy may have two types of liability coverage: bodily injury liability and property damage liability....

The average rate offered to homebuyers using a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage took an enormous leap to 6.19% from 5.61% the previous business day, hitting its highest point since at least 2019. The average for a 15-year mortgage went the other way, falling to 5.14% from 5.19% the previous business day. A few days ago the 15-year was at 5.26%, also the highest since at least 2019. (Our daily mortgage rate data only goes back to April 2021, but our data on yearly highs and lows date back to 2020, so we know rates weren’t higher in 2020....

The average rate offered to homebuyers using a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage stayed at 5.83%, the same as the previous business day. Earlier in the week it had vaulted to 6.19%, its highest point since at least 2019. The average for a 15-year mortgage fell to 5.10% from 5.20% the previous business day. Last week the 15-year was at 5.26%, also the highest since at least 2019. (Our daily mortgage rate data only goes back to April 2021, but our data on yearly highs and lows date back to 2020, so we know rates weren’t higher in 2020....

Before we cover which are the best Putnam funds for retirement, let’s take a look at reasons why an investor would want to invest in their funds. Who Is Putnam Investments and Why Buy Their Mutual Funds? For a brief summary of Putnam’s history and place in the mutual fund marketplace, you can start with their experience, which goes back 80 years, which predates most of the other large, vintage fund companies, such as Vanguard....

You can easily order the business check of your choosing from a bank, credit union, or third-party check retailer based on how you wish to use them. Here we’ll explore the types of business checks available and how to determine the best one for your small business. What Are Business Checks? Business checks are monetary instruments business owners can use to issue funds from their business bank account. Like personal checks, business checks are linked to a bank account that gets debited when a written check is cashed....

To arrive at a country’s debt-to-GDP ratio, compare the national debt by year to its GDP or the size of the economy. That should tell you a country’s ability to meet its obligations, by how much it has produced or earned. What Happens in Debt Crisis A true debt crisis occurs when a country is in danger of not meeting its debt obligations. The first sign is when the country finds that it can’t get a low-interest rate from lenders....

China has the second-greatest amount of U.S. debt held by a foreign country. Japan consistently tops the list, owning about $1.3 trillion as of October 2021. Why Does China Hold So Much of the Debt? China is the second-largest holder of the debt, even after it reduced its holdings, which it has been doing since 2011. It has held up to $1.3 trillion of U.S. debt. Every year since 2010, China has held more than $1 trillion in U....

The type of visa you may be eligible for will depend on the type of work you do, whether you have a relationship with an employer, and, in some cases, your country of origin. The guidelines for obtaining authorization to work in the United States vary depending on the type of visa and the eligibility requirements for that visa. Learn more about the types U.S. work visa, including eligibility and requirements, plus information on how to apply for a visa....

The inflation rate responds to each phase of the business cycle. That’s the natural rise and fall of economic growth that occurs over time. The cycle corresponds to the highs and lows of a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), which measures all goods and services produced in the country. Business Cycle: Expansion and Peak The business cycle runs in four phases. The first phase is the expansion phase. This is when economic growth is positive, with a healthy 2% rate of inflation....

This distinction means that the Roth 401(k) is, for all intents and purposes, one of the single best tax shelters ever devised in the history of the United States. Nothing comes close to allowing you to put away so much money, compound it for decades, and then live off the passive income without ever sending anything to the federal or state governments again. For self-employed individuals and their spouses who operate without any employees, setting up a so-called “one-participant Roth 401(k) Plan,” more commonly known as an “individual Roth 401(k),” can be one of the most extraordinary wealth-building tools in the arsenal....

Managers of actively managed funds typically adhere to an investment strategy that is defined in the fund prospectus, but they have the flexibility to purchase and sell investments based on their research. Although actively managed funds account for the majority of long-term fund assets—approximately 60% at the end of 2020—index funds have more than doubled their share of long-term fund assets since 2010. Passively managed funds have grown in popularity as more investors learn that these funds broadly outperform actively managed funds and carry lower management fees and costs related to portfolio turnover than actively managed funds....

Investors buy bonds because they provide a safe, predictable income stream and can balance the risks posed by volatile but higher-yielding stocks and other, riskier portfolio assets. Investors also purchase bonds to earn interest on a regular basis until their original capital is returned. Bonds are a type of fixed-income investment, which is a broad asset class. Other types of investments include cash, stocks, real estate, commodities, and derivatives....

Collateralized debt obligations are a particular kind of derivative. Derivatives are products that derives their value from another underlying asset. Like put options, call options, and futures contracts, derivatives have long been used in the stock and commodities markets. Alternate name: Collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) are CDOs made up of bank debt.Acronym: CDO How CDOs Work CDOs are called “asset-backed commercial paper” if they consist of corporate debt. Banks call them “mortgage-backed securities” if the loans are mortgages....