After all, job titles are important. According to one 2022 study, job titles can impact an employee’s overall job satisfaction. Another study showed that inflated job titles with unfulfilled high expectations can leave employees dissatisfied. So what does this mean for you if you’ve discovered your employer changed your title? Learn more about what to do when your job title gets modified, from finding out what the change means in your daily work life to how to discuss the change with your manager....

The formula for a breakeven analysis is: Fixed costs/(Revenue per unit-Variable costs per unit) Fixed Costs Fixed costs are expenses that must be paid whether or not any units are produced. They are fixed over a specified period of time or range of production, and examples include: Business premises lease (or mortgage) costs over the contract period Startup loan payments (if you financed the business startup costs) Property taxes Insurance Vehicle leases (or loan payments if the vehicle is purchased) Equipment (machinery, tools, computers, etc....

Down Payment Gift Guidelines According to a National Association of Realtors survey in 2020, 26% of first-time buyers and 7% of repeat buyers cited saving a down payment as the most difficult part of the homebuying process. But before accepting a mortgage down payment gift, there are a few rules to know: Only certain entities can make down payment gifts.Down payment gift amounts may be limited based on the type of loan....

Learn when you might need to have an employer ID number, how to complete IRS form SS-4 to apply for this number, and where to submit the form. Who Needs To Fill Out Form SS-4? Filling out an SS-4 form to get an Employer ID Number should be one of your first tasks when you start your small business or before you hire employees. You need an EIN if you:...

Determine How Much You Can Afford to Pay Before you even begin looking for your first apartment, determine how much rent you can comfortably pay. Experts differ on the exact percentage of your income that should go to rent, but a commonly cited figure is that rent costs should account for 30% of your monthly income. The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers families who spend more than 30% of their income on rent to be “cost-burdened....

Before you buy into an income fund, you can see the amount of income you will receive by looking at the fund’s distribution rate. This is similar to looking at a stock that pays dividends, where you can find the amount of income you would receive by looking at the stock’s dividend yield. Although similar, distribution rates and dividend yields are not the same, and you should know how they differ before you commit....

The problem is that most people have no idea how much they should be paid. That makes it difficult for them to negotiate salary when they take a new job or contemplate a promotion at their current employer. And in most cases, it pays to negotiate, especially when taking a new job. Most hiring managers expect candidates to negotiate once a job offer is on the table. Of course, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about negotiating salary....

Typically, these strengths will include both hard and soft skills, as well as work experience and achievements that are related to the company’s mission and goals. Here are tips for including your strengths that are most relevant to the job in your resume, cover letters, and job applications. How to Include Strengths in Your Resume and Cover Letter Resumes and cover letters offer a limited amount of real estate. To make the best possible impression on the hiring manager, you need to be able to highlight your strengths quickly....

How To Invest During a Recession Investing during a recession might lead you to attempt to time the market when stock prices are low and falling, hoping that stocks will rebound quickly. However, the most effective way to manage your money in a recession can depend on several factors, including your risk tolerance and time horizon, meaning how long until you need access to the money. Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) Whether you’re regularly contributing to a 401(k) or an individual retirement account (IRA) or investing in a non-retirement account through your broker, it might be wise to continue doing so during a recession....

International investing allows investors to diversify their investments by region. They can increase or decrease exposure to emerging, stable, or growing foreign investment types. Foreign exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are efficient. They’re good assets for your portfolio, and they allow you to gain instant investing access in foreign markets. You can use six types of international ETFs to diversify and increase your portfolio. Specific Foreign Market ETFs A foreign market ETF might be the best fit if you’re looking to target a country in your plan....

Whether you want to set up an automatic savings plan into a linked savings account at a different bank or move your PayPal funds to your bank account, setting up a link to your regular bank account is pretty simple. Here’s an overview of what you should know before you start the process. Linking External Bank Accounts The easiest way to link accounts is online or with an app. Gather the following details about the account you want to link:...

Regular mail is usually fine, and you can take steps to increase the security of your payments: We’ll discuss all of that in detail below. Regular Mail? Mailing a check in the United States via regular mail is quite safe. Numerous checks move through the mail every day, including many of the payments made through online bill payment services. Banks sometimes send those payments electronically, but they often print a check and drop it in the mail....

Address Your Tax Situation on Time Tax debt can quickly get out of hand if you put off dealing with it. If you fail to pay on time, the IRS will tack on penalties and interest to your outstanding balance. The monthly interest is equal to the federal short-term rate plus 3%. The monthly penalty for not paying on time begins at 0.5% of your tax debt. Other penalties can be added at an even higher rate, especially if you also fail to file your taxes at all....

The statement of cash flows is comprised of three sections: cash from operating activities, cash from investing activities, and cash from financing activities. What is the Indirect Method for Preparing a Statement of Cash Flows? The indirect method of preparing a statement of cash flows is a technique that begins with the net profit from the income statement, which is then adjusted for non-cash items such as depreciation. The indirect method is based on accrual accounting and is generally the best technique since most businesses use accrual accounting in their bookkeeping....

As the economy weakens, people pull money out of financial markets because they expect companies (and therefore their securities) to perform worse, they need the investment money for living expenses, or both. That causes the prices of stocks and other securities to fall. How prolonged and deep that fall is depends upon how bleak the economic data is and how much it shakes investor confidence. Recessions can impact your investments in the following ways:...

Hopefully, you’ll learn a lot about the company during the interview—like whether the organization and the company culture are a good fit for you, for example. But during the interview is not the time to learn basic information about the company. You should know all that before you set foot in corporate HQ. The good news is that it’s easier than ever before to learn about an employer before the job interview....

The answer may be “Yes” for some people, but the real question is whether you have the financial resources to support your level of spending for the rest of your life. To figure that out, you have to know how much income a couple might expect with $300,000 in a retirement account. The example below might not match your situation perfectly, but you can apply the same concepts and calculations to help figure out your retirement plan....

The easiest way to organize and review your insurance policies is to create a one-page summary for each policy. Most insurance policies contain a page in front of the contract that is called a “declarations page” or “policy summary.” It will contain most of the information you want to review. You can also create your own policy summary template on a pad of paper, in a word document, or in a spreadsheet....

Perhaps the company is doing poorly financially or the atmosphere at the office no longer feels welcoming. If you see any of these issues, you can’t afford to stick your head in the sand and hope it will pass. What To Do if You Think You’re Going To Be Fired While certain aspects of your relationship with your employer are beyond your control—for example, if the company is failing, no amount of effort on your part will alter that—there are some things you can do to try to save your job....

The problem is, without meaningful financial goals and a budget strategy, it’s easy to get stuck. In this article, you’ll learn how to set and achieve financial goals you care about. What Are Financial Goals? Financial goals are money-related objectives you want to achieve; for example, earning six figures in a year or saving $2,000 per month. However, financial goals can also be objectives that require money, such as buying a house by the beach or paying for your dream vacation to the Maldives....