FAIR Plans Help Cover Higher-Risk Properties FAIR Plans are state programs that are sometimes subsidized by private insurance companies. These plans often provide insurance to people who would otherwise be denied coverage on their property due to being in a high-risk area or having other related high-risk problems. Your state insurance department can give you more information on its particular FAIR Plan, or you can check out the state-by-state list of where you can get help for the FAIR Plan insurance program below....

It’s key to understand the risk-and-return relationship if you’re thinking of investing in bonds. Look at a few examples to get a better handle on how rates, yields, and risk work together over bond-maturity periods. What Are Short-Term, Intermediate-Term and Long-Term Bonds? Short, intermediate and long-term bonds are defined by the bond’s maturity. Bonds are essentially loans from investors to bond issuers. Issuers take the money from investors, pay interest and return the principal after the bond matures....

Employers have to juggle requests in order to keep employees happy and to make sure that the workload is covered. That’s especially true if you work for an organization (such as a retail company) that is particularly busy during the holiday season. Tips for Asking for Time Off for the Holidays When you want to take time off for the holidays, it’s important to be flexible, to be willing to give as well as to get, to plan to ask early, if possible, and to be able to offer solutions for getting your work covered (if necessary) while you’re away....

You might not be able to shorten every part of the mortgage underwriting process. After all, it’s in someone else’s hands for a good portion of the time. But there are certain things you can do to speed it up so you’re not in limbo while waiting to move in. Learn these tips, what questions you should ask during the process, and what traits to look for in a mortgage broker....

The average rate offered to homebuyers using a conventional 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 2.94% from 2.91% the previous business day, marking the highest average we’ve seen since 2020. The average for a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.81% from 3.79% the previous business day, moving closer to its recent peak of 3.85%. Fixed mortgage rates tend to track the direction of 10-year Treasury yields, which usually rise with heightened inflation fears (and fall when those fears subside....

The average rate offered for a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage shot up to 5.98% from 5.87% the previous business day, the highest it’s been since 6.13% on May 3. Meanwhile, the average 15-year rate reached its highest point since May 17, moving to 4.96% from the previous business day’s 4.88%. Rates for major types of mortgages have generally been on an upward trajectory for more than a week, slowly climbing back toward the peaks they reached in April....

The average rate offered to homebuyers using a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage, the most popular type of home loan, rose to 3.32% from 3.27% the previous business day, while the average for a 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 2.49% from 2.47% the previous business day. Last week they reached three-month highs of 3.35% and 2.53%, respectively. Fixed mortgage rates tend to track 10-year Treasury yields, which usually rise as inflation fears mount, or in the pandemic era, when the Federal Reserve signals it may scale back emergency monetary support sooner than expected in order to control inflation....

The interview questions that hiring managers ask entry-level candidates will typically be focused on why you are interested in the job and why the company should hire you. Focus on your training and on showing the interviewer that you possess the qualifications for employment listed in the job listing. Top 12 Entry-Level Interview Questions and Best Answers As you review these interview questions about your education, career goals, and plans for the future, keep in mind that your responses should indicate how you are prepared to make the transition from being a student to becoming a productive professional....

Potential Gross Income (PGI) Potential gross income is revenue a property is expected to produce without making deductions for expected vacancy or credit loss. It’s also known as gross scheduled income. It’s a target number; actual rent is often lower. The potential gross income calculation is fairly simple. Just multiply 12 months by the total rent expected per month. If the property is a multiple-unit building in which the units have different rents, you’ll need to add up all the rents....

With a regular home purchase, you own the home itself as well as the land it’s on, and it’s your responsibility to maintain it. What’s the Difference Between Townhouses and Houses? Size: Townhouse vs. House A regular house may or may not be larger than a townhouse when it comes to interior square footage, but with a house, there’s often more exterior space and room to expand. Amenities: Townhouse vs....

Barack H. Obama, a Democrat, was the 44th president. His two terms were from 2009 to 2017. Like most Democratic presidents, he promised to increase taxes on high-income families, improve health care coverage, and strengthen regulations. Here’s a comparison of their policies in seven critical economic areas: defense, recession recovery, health care, trade, regulations, the national debt, and climate change. Defense Both presidents allocated more for defense than an administration since WWII....

Omission An error of omission occurs when a transaction is completely omitted from the books of your company. You may forget to enter an expense transaction or enter the sale of a product or service. These transactions are difficult to detect. Therefore, you need to make sure you have a solid routine for entering these transactions timely. The most common reason that these transactions are not entered is that the documentation (such as a vendor’s invoice) gets lost....

Market Order The market order is the simplest and quickest way to get your order filled (or completed). A market order instructs your broker to buy or sell the stock immediately at the prevailing price, whatever that may be. If you are following the market, you may or may not get the last price listed. In a volatile market, you will probably get a price close to that, but there is no guarantee of any specific price....

Covered Autos The vehicles covered by a business auto insurance policy are ones that are owned, hired, leased or borrowed by a business and designed to be driven on public roads. A “symbol 1” provides the broadest coverage available and indicates that any auto is covered. A symbol 1 includes owned, hired, and non-owned autos. A “symbol 7” narrows this coverage only to autos specifically described on the policy declarations page....

Here’s a quick look at the most significant economic indicators of the day and what they tell us. Initial Jobless Claims Last week 229,000 people filed new claims for unemployment benefits, 27,000 more than in the previous week and the most since January, according to the Department of Labor. Economists had expected 195,000. While weekly claims are still quite low relatively speaking—in the range seen before the pandemic—economists cautioned that a recent upward drift could be a sign of increasing layoffs....

Importance of a Budget If you struggle with learning how to develop a good budget so you can get your debts paid on time each month, you may consider using a credit counselor to get back on track. Consumer credit counseling services are nonprofits that will help you find a workable solution to financial problems. However, some nonprofit credit agencies charge excessive fees that are not applied to debt reduction. When considering a credit counselor, it’s important to use caution....

Relative Strength Index The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is one of the more popular momentum indicators and it’s probably among the easiest to use. It measures the overbought or oversold levels on a scale of 1 to 100. The common setting for the RSI is 14. This means it tracks the last 14 periods, whether those periods are days or 5-minute bars on a chart. The main thing you want to watch out for are readings above 70 or below 30....

The Balance collected data on the costs of popular items purchased for Valentine’s Day to gauge the impact of rising consumer prices on this year’s holiday spending. According to our analysis, prices of gifts, candy, food, and flowers are all on the rise. Roses are 54% more expensive than they were last year, and are also up 23% from Valentine’s Day 2020, before the onset of the pandemic. Decorating your house with candles will also cost more, as candle prices have jumped about 3%....

“Stimulus 3 is a distraction,” said Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt. “It’s still the same advice I always give—don’t buy, sell, or start any transaction on the prospect of a tax benefit. They very rarely materialize.” The IRS will start accepting and processing tax returns on Friday, but with all the news about new government relief proposals being considered, you might be tempted to wait for the dust to settle before filing....

What Is an IRA? An individual retirement account (IRA) is an account with tax features that help individuals save for retirement expenses. Also known as an individual retirement arrangement, these accounts can hold your retirement savings from several sources, including contributions that the individual makes to the account and savings that originally came from an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Types of IRAs An IRA is a type of account that may look and feel like any other account (such as your taxable brokerage account or a bank account)....