Over time, your equity will go down as funds are taken, and monthly interest and fees will add up. The reverse mortgage comes due if you choose to sell or leave the home, or if you pass away. Because it’s a tricky product and there have been unscrupulous lenders in the mix, there are a number of regulating bodies that help protect consumers and ensure they understand how reverse mortgages work....

Patryce Bak / Getty Images Learn the similarities and differences between whole and universal life insurance, as well as when it might make the most sense to choose one type of insurance over the other. What Are Universal Life Insurance and Whole Life Insurance? Whole life and universal life insurance are forms of permanent life insurance coverage. They’re designed to cover you for your entire life. These two types of policies share several essential features....

Prices for consumer goods and services increased 1.3% in June—up from 1% in May—in the largest jump since 2005, driving the annual inflation rate up to 9.1% from 8.6% in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. The Consumer Price Index’s increase was worse than economists anticipated, and marked a fresh high since 1981. Food and gas drove much of the overall increase, but even without these items, which are prone to big swings, the “core” inflation rate rose 0....

The well-respected firm offered a variety of successful financial services, including investment banking, brokerage services, and securities trading. The one that led to its downfall was its hedge fund business that dealt in securitizing mortgages. That caused its demise in March 2008, signaling the start of the 2008 financial crisis. How it Started The trouble began in May 2007, when two Bear Stearns hedge funds saw the value of their assets plummet....

Try these 10 small money moves to build habits that can have a major impact on your financial success. 1. Save a Little Sure, saving a lot would be great. But saving whatever you can is even better. Maybe that’s $10 each month into the piggy bank on the kitchen counter, putting an extra $25 each month into your savings account, or beginning a 1% contribution to your 401(k). It’s easy to look at the budget and see nothing left over, but if you’re honest, there’s likely an extra $10 somewhere....

To improve your team’s results, you have to change yourself and take a few risks by performing differently than you have in the past. Try to implement as many of the following ideas as you can, and reap the rewards for yourself and your subordinates. Implementing the following 12 ideas can make a big difference in the improvement of team morale and performance. Incorporate them in your work life and watch yourself and your team grow into the effective and high-functioning team you’re meant to be....

Nobody is going to look at your home in the spring if it’s been on the market for months. The Days on Market (DOM) matters to home buyers because buyers gravitate toward fresh, new listings. Below are other things you can do to improve the odds that your home will stand out among the sea of new listings flooding the springtime real estate market. 15 Tips for Selling Your Home in the Spring Give these tips for selling your home during springtime a try....

There were 214,323 properties with default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions in 2020, representing 0.16% of all US properties and down 57% from 2019, ATTOM Data Solutions said in a report Thursday. Foreclosures peaked in 2010, when 2.9 million properties—about 2.2% of the U.S. total—were in foreclosure. “The government’s moratoria have effectively stopped foreclosure activity on everything but vacant and abandoned properties,” said Rick Sharga, Executive Vice President of RealtyTrac, an ATTOM company, in the report....

Knowing how financial concepts work is one thing—confidently interacting with them is quite another, and it’s something a lot of people struggle with. Most people feel capable of managing their bills and budget, but when it comes to paying down debt, choosing products like insurance, and investing, that confidence falls away. That’s particularly true among women, according to a 2018 report from wealth management firm Merrill. There are a lot of reasons that adults and especially women aren’t sure how to use their money....

The Good Brigade / Getty Images Health savings accounts, as the name suggests, are intended to help pay for health-related expenses. If utilized correctly, they can provide you with a substantial source of value in retirement. Learn how to use HSAs for retirement planning and how they compare to 401(k)s. What’s the Difference Between a 401(k) and an HSA? An HSA is not a specific retirement savings plan. Instead, it’s a savings account meant to help pay for health-related expenses—which are likely to be higher in retirement....

The timing of your credit card payment—even when you pay on time—can also impact the amount of interest you pay when you carry a balance. Paying earlier in the billing cycle can reduce the amount of interest you pay and boost your credit score in some cases. If you’re trying to decide the best time to make your credit card payment, here are some guidelines. 1. Before the Due Date Making at least the minimum payment before the cutoff time on the due date will keep your account in good standing and help you avoid late payment penalties....

1. The Expense Ratio: This Ongoing Fee Is in Every Mutual Fund It costs money to run a mutual fund. Some funds cost more to operate than others. Regardless of the cost, all mutual funds have a fee referred to as an expense ratio, or sometimes called a management fee or an operating expense. This fee is deducted from the total assets of the fund before your share price is determined....

Do Your Job Well Nobody is going to put you in charge if you can’t do your own job. The first step in landing a management job is doing a good job at the job you have. You don’t have to be the best, but you do have to be good. The best programmer in the company may not make a good Development Manager. They may prefer to write code instead of taking on the responsibilities of management....

They Need a Co-Signer Because They Can’t Qualify Alone There’s a reason your loved one can’t credit approval on his own — because their credit history (or lack thereof) or income indicates they’re not responsible enough with credit to qualify alone. If the creditor requires a co-signer, they don’t believe your loved one can or will pay on time. While you might consider co-signing because of your personal feelings, remember that facts and data are a better indicator of someone’s likelihood to repay....

Changing Your Mind About Benefits If you file for Social Security then change your mind about receiving benefits just yet, you can withdraw your application up to 12 months after the time you filed for benefits. But there’s a catch. You must pay back any benefits you received in the interim, as well as any benefits your child or spouse received based on your earnings record. Why Might Someone Pay Back Social Security Benefits?...

The index measures the performance of investment-grade bonds in the United States and includes U.S Treasuries; government-related issues; corporate bonds; agency mortgage-backed pass-throughs; consumer asset-backed securities; and commercial mortgage-backed securities. In the middle column, the S&P 500 Index measures the performance of the 500 largest companies in the U.S. stock market. On the right is the difference in performance between the two. Find out more about how stocks and bonds stack up on a long-term basis....

Fueled by government stimulus checks and tax refunds, cardholders chipped away at credit card debt, shrinking the average card balance to $4,791 in the first quarter. As the chart below shows, that’s more than $800 less than a year ago, and well below the $6,107 seen in the third quarter of 2009, the highest recorded by TransUnion since it began tracking the statistic that year. Credit card debt dropped sharply in the first quarter across all demographics—a surprising, but positive, side effect of federal relief programs established during the pandemic, including stimulus payments and supplemental unemployment benefits, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest household debt and credit report....

Credit card debt is a common issue in the U.S. More than two-thirds of Americans have credit cards, and it’s the fastest-growing type of debt in the U.S. after personal loans. American consumers ended 2019 with a total of $4.2 trillion in debt not related to housing—much of which can be attributed to credit cards. Credit card debt is the portion of your credit card balance that you have not paid off....

Learn the common mistakes to check for on your California income tax return. Double Check Your Estimated Tax Payments Make sure that the amount you think you’ve paid toward this year’s taxes is the same as what California thinks you paid. First, check your records for all tax payments you’ve made to the FTB for the tax year in question. Then take a look at last year’s return to check whether you requested that any amount of that year’s refund be applied to this year’s estimated tax....

Although unemployment benefits are considered taxable income, Congress made an exception last year as record numbers of people filed jobless claims during the pandemic. In the absence of any current legislation to extend that break another year, however, tax planners say people should start paying now or begin saving to pay come tax season. (Sen. Dick Durbin, who with Rep. Cindy Axne proposed the first bill to exclude some unemployment income from taxation, did not respond to a request for comment on whether similar legislation was planned for 2021....