Personal Guarantees for Bank Loans Before a bank lends money to a startup business, they often require additional guarantees in case the loan can’t be paid off from the assets or cash flow of the business. A personal guarantee requires the individual to pay back a loan personally in the event of default. The personal guarantee helps the lender, because startup businesses don’t have a consistent history of profits and cash to pay bills....

You can buy municipal bonds on your own or invest in a municipal bond fund. Learn more about muni bond funds, how they function, and the pros and cons of buying them. What Are Municipal Bond Funds? State, county, and city governments often take on debt to fund normal operations or large projects. The way they get the funds to pay for the projects is through municipal bonds. If you purchase one of these bonds, it’s like you’re lending the city, county, or state money....

Why does raising rates slow inflation? Raising interest rates, as the Federal Reserve has been doing since March, reduces economic activity by taking buying power away from consumers and businesses, and that helps slow inflation. When the Fed hikes its benchmark interest rate, called the fed funds rate, borrowing costs go up for all kinds of loans, including interest rates on car loans and credit card debt. Indirectly, it also makes mortgage rates go up....

Investing does not need to involve saving large sums of money. Due to compound interest, you can earn money on your initial amount invested plus all the accumulated interest from previous periods. While everyone should be investing, each person has a different investment strategy that fits their personal and financial goals. Learn what investing is, how much money you should invest, different investment strategies, and where to begin when investing....

Adopting such a perspective can lead many people to think day trading is relatively easy and a quick way to riches. Day trading can provide significant income if you know how to go about it. However, for most people, the required amounts of time spent learning and practicing prevent them from gaining enough experience to become consistently profitable with their trades. Day Trading Success Rate It’s a challenge to turn a profit through day trading, and although every day trader believes they can make money, most people who attempt day trading end up with a net loss....

In many cases, life insurance is relatively inexpensive and provides crucial protection for loved ones. How Life Insurance Works Life insurance provides a large payment to beneficiaries when an insured person dies. The payout might be hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more), and that money is often free from federal income taxes. To get coverage, you submit an application, which typically involves answering health questions and may include a brief medical examination....

You’ll need to understand why the home is being considered vacant, and make sure you are well informed about the changes that will happen on your home insurance policy once it is vacant. Let’s go over the basics of vacant homes and insurance here so you are prepared to make the best decisions to protect the property and your investment while the home is vacant. What Is a Vacancy Permit Exactly?...

Business owners may opt for different banks for their business and personal accounts or choose one bank that offers competitive accounts for both. Below are some reasons to keep your business funds separate from your personal cash. Clean and Accurate Bookkeeping You want to start your small business simply at the lowest cost. That’s good. Before you decide to save money by not setting up a business bank account, consider the time and energy that keeping them together will cost you at tax time....

The average tax refund was $2,549 in 2020, according to the IRS, and in 2021, you may have been eligible to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit if you didn’t receive any stimulus money in 2020. That’s even more of a refund you might be entitled to, so it’s important to know when it will actually hit your bank account (or mailbox). And now in 2022, refunds from 2021 tax returns are expected to be even more delayed than 2020 tax returns, according to an IRS warning published in January 2022....

Was Your Will Valid in Your Former State? If your last will and testament was created and signed with the proper formalities as required by the laws of your former state, it should still be considered valid in your new state. Otherwise, it would not be honored in either jurisdiction. For example, if the laws of your former state required that you sign your will in front of three witnesses, but you signed it in front of two witnesses, your will is not valid in your new state because it wasn’t valid in your former state....

That’s a matter of debate among economists, some of whom say the extra spending would make inflation worse, while others say it would actually cool rising prices in the long run. Still others don’t see it making much difference either way. “Basically it’s a nothingburger for inflation on either side,” said Michael Klein, a professor of international economic affairs at Tufts University and founder of the nonpartisan economics analysis blog, econofact....

Overall inflation jumped to 5.4% in June as higher prices for food, gas, and hotel rooms cramped budgets for summer trips. Then there are house prices, which are still rising so fast that saving up for a down payment is a goal that’s getting out of reach for many renters—and that’s not even taking into account that their rent is rapidly climbing too. You may also be keeping up with the debate on extra pandemic-era unemployment benefits and whether they’re the culprit for the country’s counterintuitive job situation: record job openings and elevated unemployment....

Mutual fund fees can be an important factor when comparing and deciding which funds to invest in. When analyzing fees, you should look out not only for high or low fees but also when they are charged and how the fees are collected. These fees also may impact the returns on your initial investment. While some mutual fund fees can be pretty straightforward, some may be hidden, which means investors may not necessarily understand what they’re paying for....

Although you may be able to get by for now in spite of this budgeting pitfall, you are not going to move forward if you don’t set up a budget. If, as is the case for some savers, the thought of itemizing a laundry list of monthly expenses is preventing you from starting a budget, focus on one or two spending categories in your first budget to keep it simple....

Regardless of the state you live in, here are the basics. 1. Obtain a Copy of Your State’s LLC Articles of Organization Form You’ll get this form online from your state’s Secretary of State website or office. When you contact them, also find out if the state (or county) in which you are setting up requires you to post a notice in the newspaper. Also, find out any specific rules regarding business names....

This is an organization that’s a network designed to connect would-be travelers with people in communities around the world who are willing to share their homes. There’s an adventure waiting for you out there regardless of your budget—all you have to do is go find it. Who knows what you might do with your newfound knowledge? Perhaps it will lead you to new challenges and even more new items to add to your bucket list....

From the crazy to the cool, the serious to the silly, there are tons of jobs out there that you might never have heard of. One of them might just be your next career. Or it could be a fun side job that will boost your earnings. Curious? Read about some of the weirdest and most interesting jobs out there and see if your calling is among them. Ayurveda has since gained popularity in Western cultures....

You can also live anywhere you want, set your own schedule, and work as little or as much as you want, depending on how fast or big you want your business to grow. No business or marketing experience is needed either. It’s a truly democratic medium for entrepreneurship. And this is just the start of the many available no-money e-commerce startup solutions. Let’s consider five of the top ways to start an online business and make money online with little or no cost at all....

1. Look Out for Surrender Charges Do you want investments you can get out of for any reason? Annuities sold by brokers and “B” share mutual funds can carry surrender charges, which can limit your ability to get out of them. Surrender charges can cause problems in many events. These events may include: Divorce: Married couples who have joint investments and want to get out of them because of divorce have two options....

While a young child may not realize the benefit of your gift initially, they’re sure to thank you when it comes time for them to start college. So how do you go about contributing to an unrelated child’s 529 plan? And are there tax implications of doing so? We’ll walk through the answers to these questions below. What Are 529 Plans? These plans are state-sponsored, tax-advantaged savings accounts designed to help families save for educational expenses....