Paperless billing allows you to access your monthly credit card statement online rather than receiving a mailed copy. Each month, your credit card issuer will send an email when your statement is ready. For your convenience, some credit card issuers also include your minimum payment due and the due date in the body of the email. If you’re thinking about ditching traditional paper statements, consider the pros and cons before you make the change....

Two popular options strategies among advanced traders are put spreads and naked puts. Before we dive into what put spreads and naked puts are, learn more about options trading and then decide whether one of these is right for your investment strategy. How Options Trading Works An options contract gives its owner the right—but not the obligation—to buy or sell a fixed security at a predetermined price in a given time frame....

While it’s a good idea to take a look at where you are financially at least once per year, executing a quarterly financial review can help you stay more in-tune with your money and your goals. If you’re not sure what to give your attention to, use this helpful checklist as a guide. 1. Start With Your Credit Report and Score Your credit report and score are two of the most important pieces of your financial health puzzle....

Why Agents Recommend Short Sales It’s not uncommon to hear people say that short sales protect your credit, but that’s only partially true. Your credit will tank if you fall behind on your payments, and experts say agents who repeat that mantra without clarification do so out of ignorance or self-interest. There’s one exception, though. If you have no late payments—15 days late or more—on your credit report, Fannie Mae might still offer you a loan to buy another home....

The Conference Board said on Thursday that its Leading Economic Index (LEI) jumped 1.6% to a record 113.3 in April, topping the prior record of 112.0 in January 2020. The gain was on top of a 1.3% rise in March and beat the consensus estimate for a 1.4% rise, according to Moody’s Analytics. The index takes into account 10 components of the economy including employment, manufacturing orders, stock prices, credit, interest rates, and consumer expectations....

With a recourse loan (or recourse debt), you are personally liable for any unpaid debt. Perhaps most importantly, the lender can take action to collect any unpaid balance—even after seizing collateral. With a non-recourse loan, by contrast, the lender does not have as many options, so the bank takes more risk. Collateral and Sales Proceeds With most loan contracts, you agree to pay off the debt according to a specified payment schedule....

First, retail banks offer consumers credit to purchase homes, cars, and furniture. These include mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards. The resulting consumer spending drives almost 70% of the U.S. economy. They provide extra liquidity to the economy this way. Credit allows people to spend future earnings now. Second, retail banks provide a safe place for people to deposit their money. Savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and other financial products offer a better rate of return compared to stuffing their money under a mattress....

After a year and a half of working from home, many people’s daily habits—spending among them—have changed dramatically. Resuming a normal five-day workweek will entail many costs that people may have forgotten. And with inflation sharply higher than it was when offices closed last year, many things will be more expensive than people remember. Extra expenses can be temporary outlays or longer-term, ongoing costs. Examples of things that could put a brief spike in your expenses include new clothes—studies have shown that many people put on some extra pounds while staying at home—or new makeup, fragrance, and deodorant that may give you more confidence as you start seeing people routinely again....

Combined Insurance Company History and Overview Founded in 1922 by W. Clement Stone, Combined Insurance is headquartered in Glenview, Illinois, and now employs more than 5,000 people around the world. The company has more than $2 billion in total assets. Operations include offices in North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific. Diversity in the workplace is an important part of the company culture. Parent company Chubb was named to Hispanic Network Magazine’s 2021 Best of the Bests Lists as a top diversity employer in the United States....

The crisis cost $160 billion. Taxpayers paid $132 billion, and the S&L industry paid the rest. The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation paid $20 billion to depositors of failed S&Ls before it went bankrupt. More than 500 S&Ls were insured by state-run funds. Their failures cost $185 million before they collapsed. The crisis ended what had once been a secure source of home mortgages. It also destroyed the idea of state-run bank insurance funds....

What’s the Difference Between SBA 504 and 7(a) Loans? Here are some key differences between 504 and 7(a) loans including their uses, how to qualify for them, maximum loan amounts, and more. A 504 loan is fixed-rate, long-term financing that can, for example, be used to fund the purchase of major fixed assets such as building structures, land, machinery, or equipment. The finances are unable to be used for working capital or inventory, debt consolidation, repayment, or refinancing, or rental real estate investment or speculation....

These mini-fluctuations that occur during an overall upward or downward trend are called cyclical and secular trends. Secular trends range for longer periods of time, while cyclical trends are fluctuations that occur over a short period of time within secular trends. Understanding the two sub-type of trends can help you develop strategies for investing during market trends, some of which can last for decades. This knowledge will help you base your investing decisions on the overall market when prices are rising and falling—and if history is any indicator, this will demonstrate that as time goes by, the highs and lows will both continue to be higher, cementing the points that time and patience are the most important factors in investing....

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) takes the position that you’re making a $199,999 gift if you sell for $1 and the home’s fair market value is $200,000, even if you sell to your child. You could owe a federal gift tax on that amount. Gift Tax vs. Estate Tax You might think that “selling” your home to your child will help you avoid estate taxes down the road at the time of your death, but the IRS is a step ahead of you....

Sincerely, Joel Dear Joel, With so much of your net worth being held as liquid, I can understand why you’d be tempted to wait for a market dip, and then drop a large amount of cash into your investments. You mentioned the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (CAPE) ratio—one of the ways that investors technically analyze whether the market is over or undervalued—as the way you’re trying to determine the best time to jump into the market....

You can get a Roth IRA through financial institutions like brokerages and banks. So, you may be wondering whether you should open a Roth IRA at the same bank where you hold other accounts, like checking or savings. Here’s a closer look at what you should know before getting a Roth IRA from your bank. Choosing a Roth IRA Provider The most common way to open a Roth IRA account is to go to a brokerage....

Keep reading to understand what Solana is and how the Solana blockchain works. Find out what you need to know about SOL before you invest. What Is Solana? Solana is a blockchain platform that supports many decentralized applications, including its native cryptocurrency SOL. More than 400 projects are already hosted by the Solana platform, encompassing: Other cryptocurrencies, including Tether (USDT), Terra (LUNA), and Chainlink (LINK), among more than 100 others Decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, including decentralized lending and trading Decentralized internet (also known as Web3) applications Decentralized finance (DeFi) projects Non-fungible token marketplaces Music streaming Gaming...

If you are a Baby Boomer thinking about your retirement prospects, here are some important steps you can take. Create a Personal Spending Plan Budgeting has a bad reputation because most people find it hard to monitor their spending and make adjustments consistently. If you are a Baby Boomer approaching retirement, you should create a proactive spending plan that tells you where your money should go in advance to ensure your spending aligns with your goals....

ljubaphoto / Getty Images In the week through March 13, there were 770,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits, 45,000 more than the previous week and the most for any week since Feb. 13, according to seasonally adjusted data released by the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday. Economists expected a median of roughly 712,000, according to Moody’s Analytics. Weekly initial claims have fallen from their highs last spring, but have stubbornly remained above 700,000—more than three-times pre-pandemic levels—for 52 straight weeks, showing there’s work ahead even as the outlook for the economy grows more optimistic....

Market Correction Example On Jan. 26, 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average entered a correction, hitting its highest closing record of 26,616.71. The next day, it went into free fall. By the end of the following week, it had fallen 4%. It recovered briefly before dropping 1,032.89 points on Feb. 8 to 23,860.46. In total, it had fallen 10.4%, and investors were wary of higher interest rates and afraid of inflation....

If you find yourself without work or not earning a lot of income, you might wonder how you will pay your student debt. The good news is that you have options and here’s what you need to know. The Job Market for Recent Grads The good news is that the economy and the job market have drastically improved from the doldrums of 2020 and 2021. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the labor market has changed into a hybrid, remote workplace that favors job seekers....