“You can value wealth in many different ways,” Matthew Ricks, a certified financial planner and president of Haystack Financial Planning, told The Balance by email. “For some, it’s being free of a mortgage. [Others] will say it takes owning $1 million. Some say multi-millions. It’s so individual.” Ricks went on to note that income and wealth are not the same things; just because you earn a lot of money doesn’t mean you’re wealthy....
Cost Obviously, cost needs to be one of your first considerations when making pricing decisions. No business can sustain itself when costs exceed sales. The simplest pricing models use a “cost plus” approach, in which you add a standard percentage to your costs to determine your price. For example, if it costs you $5 to make one T-shirt, you could sell your T-shirts for $10 each, covering the cost to make plus an additional $5....
Defining a Subprime Loan Subprime loans are made to borrowers with less-than-perfect credit. The term comes from the traditional prime, or low-risk borrowers that lenders eagerly want to work with. Prime borrowers have high credit scores, low debt loads, and healthy incomes that comfortably cover their required monthly loan payments. Subprime borrowers, on the other hand, typically have characteristics that suggest they are more likely to default on their loans....
Banks typically clear up these issues quickly, but glitches can create anxiety while you wonder whether or not you’ll get reimbursed—or if the bank will believe your story. What’s more, this mishap could cause financial issues if your account balance is already low. Learn what to do and how to act when you don’t receive your money from an ATM. How to Handle ATM Errors In a best-case scenario, the bank or ATM operator already knows that the mistake occurred and will fix the error in your account....
Review advice on how to handle a counteroffer from your employer after you’ve resigned, the pros and cons of staying vs. moving on, and how to handle your resignation when your employer wants you to stay. Pros and Cons of Accepting a Counteroffer After Resigning Many employment experts suggest that agreeing to stay on board after you’ve given notice of leave is usually not advisable. A Harvard Business Review survey reports that almost 40% of senior executives and human resources (HR) leaders said that accepting a counteroffer from a current employer will adversely affect one’s career....
What Is the Body of a Cover Letter? The body of your cover letter is the section which tells the hiring manager what position you’re applying for and why the employer should select you for an interview. You’re selling your candidacy to the reader, so it’s important to be specific about your qualifications as they relate to the position. The body of your cover letter should include an explanation of why you’re interested in and qualified for the job for which you’re applying....
What Are the 401(k) Loan Limits? Your 401(k) is subject to legal loan limits set by law. The maximum amount you can borrow is traditionally the lesser of $50,000 or 50% of your vested account balance, whichever is less. Your vested account balance is the amount that belongs to you. If your company matches some of your contributions, you may have to stay with your employer for a set amount of time before the employer contributions belong to you....
First things first: when you’re job searching, honesty is the best policy. It’s always a mistake to lie on your resume, whether it’s stretching dates of employment to cover a resume gap or inflating a job title to match duties that went beyond the original scope of the role. Background Checks and Employment History Beyond the fact that stretching the truth is wrong, it’s likely to catch up with you....
There are also special rules set by the IRS when certain benefits aren’t offered to all employees, such as when special perks are awarded to high-ranking executives. Below we’ll provide a list of common non-cash fringe benefits and IRS rules on whether or not cost of those benefits is taxable to the employee as income. Adoption Assistance Many companies offer adoption assistance as an added benefit to their employees. These benefits aren’t taxable to most employees, but they are taxable as income to S-corporation employees who are 2% shareholders or if adoption assistance is only offered to certain highly compensated employees....
But contractors typically run their own businesses. Contractors may work as consultants, temporary employees, freelancers, or other non-payroll positions. A contractor is not under an employer’s control regarding the manner, means, and results of work performed. They operate their own business and offer their contracted services to the public. Many people are embracing this way of working. Despite not always having a consistent income, contractors enjoy advantages that full-time employees do not....
So, what should you do with your savings? Does it make sense to lock in a rate at today’s levels? You may want to maximize your interest earnings, but going all in on long-term CDs right now could backfire. By understanding today’s interest rate environment and the drivers behind it, you can evaluate the alternatives and pick a strategy that makes sense. You may end up trying variations on classic CDs, going with different bank products, or just dealing with low rates until the economy heats up again....
What Are Commodities? Raw materials trade in a number of ways. First there’s the physical commodity market. A barrel of oil, a bar of gold, a truckload of corn or soybeans, a bag of coffee, or even a herd of cattle are examples of the physical staples at the heart of commodity markets. Everything else that trades is a derivative. This is an instrument with a price that reflects the value of the underlying hard commodity asset....
So isn’t it a no-brainer to take the money? Actually, not exactly. Depending on how likely your circumstances are to change, you may be better off turning the monthly payments down in favor of the lump sum next tax season. “In the tax system, we evaluate people’s conditions every year. We don’t evaluate them every month,” said Elaine Maag, principal research associate at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Someone who “might want to opt out is a middle-income person who isn’t certain whether they’re going to qualify for the benefit, or is not sure if their child is going to be living with them for the majority of the year, or with someone else....
An HSA offers triple tax savings by reducing taxable income upon contribution, earning tax-free gains and income while invested, and allowing tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. This can be extremely beneficial to employees should they need to pay off a hefty bill for a medical emergency. An HSA will also cover a variety of health expenses that aren’t covered by traditional employee health insurance. While it sounds great to have a plan that offers such valuable tax savings and a wide array of services, it’s important to understand all of the details of an HSA before determining whether it’s right for you....
Automation, like at those checkout kiosks being placed in many retail stores, has constrained or reversed growth in many unskilled retail jobs. Online merchandising has also impacted brick-and-mortar operations while opening up opportunities through online outlets. Types of Retail Job Opportunities When reviewing job options, it’s important to consider positions that are a strong fit for your qualifications, interests, and where you’re at in your career. The best job for one person may not be the right fit for someone else....
The credit score calculation is very complex and it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for a credit score drop. Since your credit score is based on information in your credit report, an unexpected decrease in your score can typically be traced to a change to the information in your credit report. And, it doesn’t have to be a big change for your credit score to fall. Here are a few possible reasons your credit score could drop....
Pay Off High-Interest Credit Card Debt Paying off high-interest credit card debt should be your first “investment,” said Cynthia Meyer, a certified financial planner. The return on your money is equal to the interest rate, plus it’s guaranteed and it’s risk-free. Think about whether your return will be better used to pay off credit debt or other debt. Interest rates on both federal student loans and mortgages are, on average, less than 10%, and pre-retirees might want to consider paying off their mortgage before they retire....
However, the 2020 foreclosure figures were low due to extensive measures enacted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. These measures included a foreclosure moratorium, loan modifications, and forbearance, which allowed for a pause or reduction in mortgage payments. Nobody plans on losing their home to foreclosure. However, it does happen, and you’ll still need a place to live afterward. Buying another home after a foreclosure can be a bit more difficult and expensive, but it’s possible....
This guide will teach you how to sort through the many forms to find the data you’re seeking. What Is an Annual Report? Much of what you need to understand a company’s finances is in its annual report. You can view a company’s annual report on its website for free. Unlike 10-K filings, which are created for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), annual reports are addressed to the shareholders....
Overhauled by the American Rescue Plan pandemic relief bill in March, the 2021 child tax credit not only got bigger (the maximum went from $2,000 to between $3,000 and $3,600 per child, depending on age and family income,) but was expanded to cover low-income families who didn’t make enough money to claim an offset to taxes in the past. The Jain Family Institute researchers suggested the government consider other outreach efforts, including automatically registering children for the credit at birth or if they’re enrolled in other benefit programs....
