Succeeding in your new position is just as important—if not more important—as scoring the role. Show You’re a Good Fit During your early days in your new job, your employer will look for confirmation that you are a good fit for the position and for the organization. After all, the decision to hire a new employee is based on relatively limited information: how you performed in the interview, and, in some cases, what your references said about you....
What’s the Difference Between a 401(k) and a Savings Account? A savings account is an individual account you open at a bank or credit union to keep your money safe and earn a little interest. You can use this savings account for anything, whether a short-term goal like an emergency fund or a vacation, or a long-term goal such as a new car or home renovations. Deposits and Taxes When you sign up for a 401(k) with your employer, you’ll choose an amount to contribute to your account every paycheck....
Let’s take a look at several so-called disadvantages of mutual funds, and how you can avoid them. 1. Mutual Funds Have Hidden Fees If fees were hidden, those hidden fees would certainly be on the list of disadvantages of mutual funds. The hidden fees that are lamented are properly referred to as “12b-1 fees.” While these fees are no fun to pay, they are not hidden. The fee is disclosed in the mutual fund prospectus and can be found on the mutual funds’ websites....
Most consumers know about the three major nationwide credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. While most lenders use one or all three of these bureaus to pull your credit history and credit scores, these aren’t the only credit reporting agencies. The law that grants a free credit report each year applies to these small credit agencies too. The only difference is that you have to contact the agency directly to request a free copy of your credit information....
But because so many people still use them, you need to make sure yours is memorable. An attractive business card draws the attention of prospects who otherwise might have tossed the card and helps you to network more effectively. Follow some simple rules to make sure your business card represents your brand and attracts potential clients or business partners. Include Only What’s Most Important Include enough information to pique the interest of recipients and make the business card memorable....
To make matters worse, many parents don’t talk to their children about finances, often because they either lack basic financial knowledge themselves or are embarrassed by their current financial situation. There are eight money-management skills that every high-school student should have learned before graduating; if you haven’t mastered them, take the time to do so now, to set yourself up for future financial success. 1. Balancing a Checkbook When you balance a checkbook, you ensure that the balance in your checkbook register matches the balance in the monthly statement from your bank....
Read on for tips on handling nine unpleasant situations and changing your career mood from miserable to fulfilled. You can stop being unhappy at work. Your Co-workers Are Critical Your co-workers are always finding fault with the company, management, customers, employees, and just about everything else about the job. You find yourself hanging out with these people and worse, participating in the griping. Legitimate concerns that you are actually able to address aside, if you wallow in misery and listen to unhappy, difficult people, the actions can’t help but bring you down as well....
The premise of this obsolescence shows already with Bill Pay, an electronic deposit of checks via mobile apps, and the predominance of transfer methods such as Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, Wise, Payoneer, Stripe, Fiserv, etc. How to Order Bank Checks To write checks, you’ll need a stack of blank checks. Your first set of checks will most likely come from the bank when you open an account, but what do you do after you’ve used them all up?...
Age 55 At 55, it isn’t too late to start planning for retirement. However, it might be time to get serious about planning. You’ll want to start figuring out where your retirement income will come from. You should tally your income, savings, investments, assets, 401s or IRAs, and any other sources. Calculate how much debt you have and the level you can continue to keep. You should begin saving for the amount you’ll need to be comfortable as you get older and transition out of the workforce....
Alimony vs. Child Support The key difference between alimony and child support is the intended use of each payment. Alimony is paid for the benefit of a spouse. Child support is paid to meet the basics needs of the child, such as food, clothing, medical care, housing, and other necessities. Alimony is generally intended to help the spouse receiving it maintain a similar lifestyle to the one they were accustomed to during the marriage....
The federal government is discharging all $5.8 billion in federal student loan debt that people owe for going to Corinthian, which shuttered in 2015, the Department of Education said Thursday. Government officials said students deserve to be relieved from those loans because they were misled by the colleges, which made false claims about students’ employment prospects, including erroneously guaranteeing they would find a job after graduation. About 100,000 other Corinthian students had already had their loan debt canceled....
At the bottom of this article, you’ll find a table of historical annual stock market returns for the S&P 500 index for the period of 1980 to 2021. How Often Does the Stock Market Lose Money? Negative stock market returns occur, but historical data shows that the positive years far outweigh the negative years. For example, the 10-year annualized return of the S&P 500 Index as of March 3, 2022, was about 12....
Standard home insurance policies include a collection of coverages. Some coverages protect against physical losses to your house and its contents. Others pay expenses when you’re displaced from your home or when someone sustains an injury on your property. Purchasing homeowners insurance isn’t complicated, but it can be confusing. If you have questions about where to buy home insurance or how it works, you’ve come to the right place....
A monthly survey by Morning Consult showed 18.6% of adults had household expenses that exceeded their monthly income, more than in any month since the question was first asked in September 2020. As the chart below shows, that’s a sharp jump from December, which also saw an increase. Inflation is at 7.5%, the highest in nearly 40 years, and doesn’t look like it will abate any time soon with the Russia-Ukraine war pushing oil and gas prices higher....
Creating Balance Creating a work-life balance is even more important during times of stress. It is a known fact that illnesses occur at a higher rate in college during periods when students are under additional pressure such as when they are in the process of studying for exams or completing the many papers and presentations required by professors. Manage Your Stress Managing stress is one of the most important aspects of achieving a good balance during college....
Not everyone knows all the car insurance terms and lingo. As a matter of fact, probably a good chunk of people have no idea what type of coverage they have on their vehicle right now. Basic car insurance coverage is often whatever the state forces you to purchase. Plan on buying a policy with personal liability coverage and, depending on which state you reside in, PIP coverage and uninsured motorist....
Roth IRA Advantages It’s common for people to get confused when they hear the term “Roth IRA,” according to Chloe Elise, CEO and founder of the financial literacy company Deeper Than Money. “Many think a Roth IRA is the investment itself, when in actuality, the Roth IRA is just the vehicle for saving,” Elise told The Balance in an email. “There are many options for investments you can put inside it....
Even though major stock indexes haven’t fallen yet into official “bear” territory—that’s defined as a drop from their peaks of at least 20% for a sustained period—some analysts are pointing out a weakness lurking below the surface that may be causing some of the market fluctuations. That weakness is what Schwab analysts call the “stealth bear” market, which occurs when many individual stocks within a stock index fall by 20% or more....
Not only can brainstorming help you generate ideas that might not have otherwise been considered, but it can also help you better understand where your business is struggling, and where you need to focus your time. Here are 7 brainstorming techniques that you can do on your own that can help you expand your mind to new ideas and strategies for your home business. You can use one, several, or all of these techniques to generate ideas....
Different types of budget systems and methods exist. If you’re wondering how to start a budget or why doing so is essential, this guide can help. How To Start a Budget Starting a budget is relatively simple. The basic process for making a budget goes like this: Your goal should be to see how much you have coming in and to set a plan for what goes out. Step 1: Add Up Monthly Income Consider all your possible sources of income: salary from your job, payment from clients if you are a freelancer or gig worker, or sales you’ve made if you run your own business....
