Periodic Rate A periodic rate is the APR expressed over a shorter period and can be found by dividing the APR by the number of billing periods in the year. A daily periodic rate is calculated by dividing the APR by 365 days (or 360 for some companies); a monthly periodic rate is calculated by dividing the APR by 12 months; a quarterly periodic rate is calculated by dividing the APR by four....
Inherited IRA rules are not the same as the rules for your own IRA, especially if you inherit an account and aren’t the deceased’s widow or widower. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 made a big impact on these rules. You may need to update your plan in light of these rules if you think you might inherit an IRA, and you think you already know what you’re going to do with it....
What Is a Unit Investment Trust? Like a mutual fund, a unit investment trust is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Company Act of 1940. A UIT differs from a mutual fund in that it consists of a basket of passively held stocks, bonds, mortgages, REITs, MLPs, preferred stocks, or other securities put together by an investment bank, brokerage firm, wealth management company, or sponsor that raised money from investors to construct the portfolio in accordance with the guidelines spelled out in a legal document called the Trust Indenture....
President Joe Biden on Monday ordered agencies including the Small Business Administration and the Department of Agriculture—which lends money to rural homebuyers—to change their underwriting practices so that unpaid medical debt doesn’t hurt their chances of getting a loan. The Department of Health and Human Services will also be examining reporting and collection practices of more than 2,000 healthcare providers, considering those findings for the first time when giving out federal grants....
A federal moratorium on foreclosure expires July 31, and the administration of President Joe Biden has said it won’t extend the protections any longer, despite foreclosure still being a concern for some households. About 1.1 million of the 5.9 million people who reported being behind on mortgage payments said they were “somewhat” or “very” likely to lose their home to foreclosure in the next two months, according to a Census Bureau survey taken June 23 through July 5....
Since so many veterans return from serving their country to start a small business, veterans need VA small business loans both for start-up capital and ongoing funding for their businesses. If you or your spouse served in the military and would like to fund your small business, you can take advantage of several favorable loan options geared towards veterans. What Is a VA Small Business Loan? VA small business loans are not made by the Veterans Administration (VA)....
Examples of Different Home Orientations Orientation of a home can greatly affect the home’s temperature and its access to sunlight throughout various parts of a given day. For example, homes that are situated on the south side of a street face north. This means that the backyard has more sun in the summer, which is often a delight for gardeners. Conversely, homes situated on the north side of a street face south, offering some shade in the backyard during summer afternoons....
If you spend more money than what you have in available funds, that could put your account into overdraft. When that happens, you may be charged one or more overdraft fees until you deposit enough money into your account to bring the balance back into the positive. Types of Available Funds Available funds are money that’s available to you for some purpose. How this works can vary, based on the situation....
Among those tactics is the credit card retention offer—a tool that issuers use to entice you to keep your account open. Retention offers typically come at the request of the customer and can include waived annual fees, statement credits, or even reward points. Learn what exactly a credit card retention offer is, how it works, and how to ask your bank for one. What Are Credit Card Retention Offers? Banks spend a lot of money acquiring their customers....
Understanding what nonbank banks are and how they work may help you decide if they may be a better option to help you meet your financial needs. Definition and Example of A Nonbank Bank Nonbank banks can best be described as limited-service financial institutions that provide similar services as traditional banks but with a twist. Nonbank banks can offer financial products and services to consumers, such as giving loans or accepting deposits, but they cannot offer both....
Self-Employment Tax Defined and Explained Self-employment tax is a tax paid by individuals who are self-employed (work for themselves), for Social Security and Medicare taxes. It’s similar to the portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes (called FICA taxes) paid by individuals on income from their work as employees. Everyone who has earned income from work in the U.S. must pay Social Security and Medicare tax in order to receive benefits from these programs....
Alternate names: Step-fixed cost, stair-step cost, stepped cost, step-variable cost With pricing for accounting software Quickbooks, for example, your costs can increase or decrease based on the number of user accounts needed. For the Essentials Plan of $30 per month, you can create up to three user accounts. The $30 cost remains constant whether you create just one user account or three. The moment you need a fourth account, your costs jump to $40 per month with the next level plan....
What Is a Credit Grantor? The credit grantor is another term used to describe your credit card issuer or the company that has granted some form of credit to you. As your credit grantor, the credit card issuer can make a lot of decisions about your account as outlined in your credit card agreement. They can raise or lower your credit limit and your interest rate. They can charge fees to your account for certain transactions, and they can charge fees as a penalty if you’re late with a payment....
Bear traps can force investors who are shorting a security to lock in losses, even if the long-term trend of a stock is downward. Learn how bear traps work and what they mean for investors. Definition and Examples of a Bear Trap A bear trap occurs when a stock or another security that is losing value suddenly reverses course and begins to gain value instead. It can also occur when a stock that looks poised to begin falling unexpectedly maintains an upward trend....
Similar to the three- or four-letter ticker symbol used to identify a company’s shares of stock that are publicly traded, CUSIP numbers are used to process and settle securities transactions. Although stock-issuing companies have CUSIP numbers, CUSIP numbers are more prominently used to identify and track bonds. For example, a municipal entity such as the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has more than 100 CUSIP numbers designating outstanding bonds. CUSIP Global Services, which operates the CUSIP system on behalf of the ABA, has a master file that stores CUSIP numbers of more than 10 million securities offered in the U....
A deed of trust is the security for your loan. It is recorded in the public records. If a state requires it, borrowers must agree to sign the deed of trust if they want to take out a home loan, just as they would have to do to sign a mortgage in another state. How Does a Deed of Trust Work? A deed of trust addresses three parties: The trustor, or obligor, who is the borrowerThe trustee, who holds “bare or legal” title (usually a title company)The beneficiary, who is the lender...
A previous tax rule formally known as the Rollover of Gain on Sale of Principal Residence allowed homeowners to rollover capital gains from the sale of a primary home if they met requirements such as purchasing a new home for at least the same price as the previous residence. In that case, the cost basis for the new home would be adjusted by the deferred capital gain, as well as by any other relevant adjustments like real estate closing costs....
Demand notes serve as flexible loan agreements for private parties, usually for small sums of money. But they can be issued by banks on rare occasions. Learn how demand notes work, what their requirements are, and how to handle one if you’re the borrower or the lender. Definition and Example of a Demand Note A demand note is a type of promissory note that’s a special loan between private parties where borrowers don’t pay interest or a fixed amount on a repayment schedule....
The form requires you to calculate your monthly income and expenses. This includes details about different types of income, your employment, how often you get paid, what kind of tax deductions you get, and how much you spend on gas and other utilities. You will also need to lay out your debt obligations and how much you spend per month, in addition to all expenses related to any dependent minor children or prior alimony payments....
The most well-known fiscal year in the U.S. is the federal government’s fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1 and ends on Sep. 30. How Does a Fiscal Year Work? A fiscal year is designed to facilitate accounting procedures and financial reporting. Like a calendar year, a fiscal year can be broken down into four quarters of three months. A fiscal year can be 52 or 53 weeks—because one year isn’t exactly 52 weeks....
