Projections for 2022 “salary increase” budgets—that’s the pool of money companies set aside for salary increases in the following year—jumped by almost a full percentage point to 3.9% in November from 3.0% in April, The Conference Board said in a report Tuesday. Of 240 organizations surveyed between Nov. 8 and 19—more than half of which have more than 10,000 employees—46% said higher wages for new hires played a role in boosting their budget estimates, while 39% said inflation did....

Why is your card issuer so eager to help you spend? They stand to earn a lot in interest and fees when you step up your borrowing. If you make a payment or purchase with those checks, it’s (almost) as if you got a cash advance from your card to make that purchase. In short, convenience checks are another way to spend using the line of credit available on your credit card....

Last week, a federal judge sided with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a watchdog agency, in a long-running court battle against payday loan trade groups over whether the bureau was allowed to impose a new rule on lenders of payday, vehicle, and certain high-cost installment loans. The regulation stops lenders from attempting to withdraw money from a debtors’ bank account if it had already failed in two consecutive tries—a practice that can result in borrowers being hit with multiple bank fees for returned payments and insufficient funds, and even having their accounts closed....

Following is a brief outline of the components you’ll need to include in a startup-costs worksheet. Your worksheet should list all the facilities costs, equipment, initial supplies and materials, advertising materials, and miscellaneous costs you need to open your business. Once you understand all of the cost categories involved, you can verify that your plan has captured all of the expenses needed to get started. Create a worksheet (page) in your spreadsheet software that lists out all of your startup costs....

Higher prices and interest rates are causing people in the U.S. to take on more debt, especially credit card debt. Credit card debt increased by $46 billion in the second quarter of 2022, and grew 13% since the same time last year—the biggest annual jump in credit card balances in over 20 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s most recent quarterly report on household debt and credit....

Can I Identify as Nonbinary When Buying Life Insurance? For now, the answer seems to be “no”. You’ll likely only see female and male options on life insurance applications. In a February 2020 blog post, life insurance company Haven Life stated, “Haven Life is developing an application that is inclusive of nonbinary people.” But in December 2020, the insurer’s online application continues to only offer female and male gender options. We’ve researched multiple insurance carriers–major insurers that offer multiple insurance lines and small providers that specialize in life insurance–and all continue to only offer female and male gender markers in their online quote systems and applications....

A declining dollar can also mean a fall in the value of U.S. Treasurys, which drives up Treasury yields and interest rates. Treasury note yields are the main driver of mortgage rates. It can mean that foreign central banks and sovereign wealth funds are holding fewer dollars, too. This lowers the demand for dollars. Economic Effects of a Declining Dollar A weaker dollar buys less in foreign goods. This increases the price of imports, contributing to inflation....

Credits to one account must equal debits to another to keep the equation in balance. Accountants use debit and credit entries to record transactions to each account, and each of the accounts in this equation show on a company’s balance sheet. Double-entry accounting has been in use for hundreds, if not thousands, of years; it was first documented in a book by Luca Pacioli in Italy in 1494. Double-Entry Accounting Defined True to its name, double-entry accounting is a standard accounting method that involves recording each transaction in at least two accounts, resulting in a debit to one or more accounts and a credit to one or more accounts....

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) measures durable goods as part of its quarterly U.S. gross domestic product report. It’s an important component of GDP. The BEA releases the current GDP statistics report for each quarter. Types of Durable Goods There are three types of durable goods, according to the BEA. Consumer Durable Goods Consumer durable goods are the items bought by households and individuals that last three years or more....

While the Great Depression took a huge toll on the U.S., there were a few good things that came from it. For example, the New Deal programs installed safeguards to make it less likely that the Depression could happen again. Overall, the Great Depression had a tremendous impact on nine principal areas of the U.S. economy, which are outlined below. The economy began shrinking in August 1929. By the end of the year, one-third of all banks had failed....

In Fair Isaac Corporation’s FICO scoring model—used in 90% of lending decisions—a score of 580 to 669 on a range from 300 to 850 is considered fair. VantageScore, another major scoring model that uses the same score range as the FICO model, treats a 601 to 660 as fair. How a Fair Credit Score Works Your credit score is an important three-digit number derived from the borrowing activity in the credit reports on file with each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion....

Fannie Mae—a government-backed company that guarantees home loans—is updating its automated underwriting system so that banks will be able to take an applicant’s history of rent payments into account when considering their creditworthiness for a mortgage, the company said Wednesday. The move is meant to help renters with a history of on-time payments show that they are creditworthy and able to make mortgage payments, and it’s not a double-edged sword....

The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left benchmark interest rates near zero, as expected, but said it would begin reducing the pace of its monthly asset purchases by $10 billion for Treasury securities and by $5 billion for mortgage-backed securities. The so-called tapering of the asset purchases was widely anticipated as a first step toward controlling inflation. Consumer prices are rising at the fastest pace in decades. When the pandemic began last year and the economy faltered, the committee slashed the target range for the benchmark federal funds rate to 0 to ¼ percent, and embarked on a massive program of monthly asset purchases, including $80 billion in Treasuries and $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities....

Borrowers whose federal student loans were serviced by Navient won’t have to change their login information, their automatic payment information, or update other personal details as the company transitions their accounts to another servicer, Maximus, the Department of Education said Wednesday in announcing it had approved the transfer. The department also promised that updates and specific information would be made available at StudentAid.gov. Navient said last month it was quitting the federal student loan servicing business, creating uncertainty among about 5....

Here are a few of the most important financial ratios for business owners to learn, what they tell you about the company’s financial statements, and how to use them. The Balance Sheet for Financial Ratio Analysis The Income Statement for Financial Ratio Analysis Analyzing the Liquidity Ratios The first ratios to use to start getting a financial picture of your firm measure your liquidity, or your ability to convert your current assets to cash quickly....

The Supply Side In general, it is easy to get a handle on commodity supplies, because commodity production depends on geographical conditions. Chile has the largest copper reserves in the world because of its geology. Therefore, the nation is the world’s biggest copper producer. The United States has the most fertile soil and appropriate weather conditions for growing corn and soybeans. The U.S. the world’s number one producer and exporter of these grains....

Gap, Inc. is the company behind major clothing brands such as Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta—all of which have store-branded credit cards for earning rewards and discounts on brand purchases. Consumers who already have a store card from one of the Gap, Inc. brands will be transitioned to updated Barclays cards in May 2022, according to an announcement Tuesday. Synchrony Bank, the bank currently behind Gap-branded store cards, decided not to renew its partnership with the retailer once it ends April 30, 2022....

You shouldn’t have to give up your credit card number for something that’s supposed to be free—and, the good news is, you don’t have to. There are a few ways you can get a free credit score without entering your credit card number. Credit Scores With a Catch Many sites advertising free credit scores have a gimmick where they lure you in with promises of a free score. But, to get that score, they require you to sign up for a trial subscription to a credit monitoring service....

The findings, released Friday as part of a study by Gallup and Casper, a mattress company, is particularly timely given how much sleep is on our minds. Many people are still recovering from the effects of losing an hour’s sleep on March 13 to the annual shift to daylight saving time, and U.S. senators had sleep on their minds this week when they unanimously passed a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent throughout the country beginning in November 2023....

Be careful how you answer this question. Interviewers don’t like to hear you elaborate too much (or much at all) about bad bosses. After all, it could be someone from their company that you’re talking about next time around. What the Interviewer Really Wants to Know Interviewers may be curious about how you have related to previous managers. Another reason to ask this question is to get a sense of the interviewee’s interpersonal skills....