Patience Above and beyond all the other traits, the degree of patience you possess with impact your final results. Perhaps this is because patience is actually the exact opposite of the profit-killing emotions which plague most investors, such as impatience, greed, and fear. In fact, a steady hand will often eliminate all the stock market mistakes which come along with frustration or anger or regret. In the world of investing, patience means profits....

Be Nice to Your Partner Treat your spouse with the same—or even higher—level of courtesy and respect as you would anyone else with whom you work. Be flexible in your ideas and ways, and expect to compromise more than you would with an unrelated co-worker. ​ Listen to Your Partner Avoid arguments with this one simple act. Even if you disagree with the idea, always let your partner finish expressing the thought....

Social Security Benefits Stop Growing at 70 Up until age 70, delayed retirement credits are added to your Social Security (SSA) benefits. As a result, there is a lot to be gained by putting off your SSA payments. If you defer your SSA payments until the age of 70, you’ll get 132% of the monthly benefit because you delayed getting payments for 48 months. Still, there is no reason to wait past age 70 to start getting your payments....

It may surprise you to learn you can lose your credit card rewards at all. It’s true. The fine print of your rewards program details specific things that could cost your credit card rewards. While rewards programs can differ from one credit card to the next, here are some things you should avoid if you want to keep your credit card rewards. You Make a Late Payment You probably already know that a late credit card payment has several consequences: a late payment fee, interest rate increase, and damage to your credit....

What is a Public Company? A public company (sometimes called a publicly held company) is usually a corporation that issues shares of stock (a stock corporation). In a public company, the shares are made available to the public. The shares are traded on the open market through a stock exchange. A company is also considered as public if it discloses business and financial information to the public. What is a Private Company?...

Each lender decides how many points it will add to the index rate as part of the ARM margin. It’s typically several percentage points. For example, if the LIBOR is 0.5%, the ARM rate could be 2.5% or 3.5%. Most lenders will keep the rate at that advertised rate for a certain period. Then the rate changes at regular intervals. This is known as a “reset.” It depends on the terms of the loan....

Pre-Pay For Care One alternative to purchasing a traditional long-term care policy is to buy into a continuing care community. With these arrangements, you usually pay a decent-sized lump sum to reserve your spot, and then pay a monthly fee once you move in. Many of these communities are designed to be all-inclusive, meaning for your lump sum and monthly fee you will receive whatever level of medical care is needed....

Real estate investing became a popular past-time for newer investors looking for quick gains. Rumors abounded, telling of people who flipped a house and made $50,000 in a matter of a month. The housing bubble burst in 2008 and gains began to turn into losses. Stock prices plummeted after large financial firms and insurance companies began to file for bankruptcy in 2008. This was largely due to irresponsible lending practices....

Mr. Moulton started his insurance company in one room of a bank building. In the early days, the company wrote only automobile insurance. In the 1940s Auto-Owners Insurance entered the casualty insurance marketplace and began offering personal property and commercial casualty coverage, including homeowner’s insurance, life insurance, car insurance, and business insurance. The company operations are comprised of one life/health/annuity insurer and five property and casualty companies. Auto-Owners Insurance has annual revenues of over $8....

What Are Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share? When you dive into the income statement (also known as the company’s “profit and loss statement”), you have to consider the following: Earnings per share is a company’s net income, minus cumulative preferred dividends, divided by the number of common outstanding shares. Diluted earnings per share represent the company’s net income minus preferred dividends, divided by the total of the weighted average number of shares and other dilutive securities....

You need to have three to six months of living expenses in your emergency fund. You also need to make saving for retirement a priority. Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to set aside money for a down payment on a house, college expenses, or caring for elderly parents. For many people, getting started is the hardest part of saving. If you’re not sure where to start saving, or if you’re having trouble setting money aside, you can start to build a saving habit with the 52-Week Savings Challenge....

Hotel credit cards can be useful for the right type of consumer, but they aren’t for everyone. Before committing to a co-branded hotel credit card, make sure you have a plan for using the points, and that you understand the pros and cons. Benefits of Hotel Credit Cards The main advantage of hotel credit cards is that they let you earn hotel rewards points for each dollar you spend. These points are usually offered on top of rewards points you earn just for booking a paid stay with a hotel....

Learn why mutual funds can be a good investment for young and novice investors and which mutual funds are best for investors in their 20s and 30s. Why Mutual Funds Are Best for Young Investors A mutual fund is an investment that contains a basket of securities. Investors buy into the fund by pooling their money. The fund could contain stocks, bonds, or a mixture of investments and it’s usually managed by an investment manager....

401(k) plans are tax-advantaged contribution accounts offered by employers. Money is taxed before it is deposited into the account so that in retirement, any withdrawals will be tax-free. Often, the employer will match a portion of employee-made contributions. Employer Selection of 401(k) Funds At the very minimum, employers are required to offer at least three basic types of options to 401(k) participants: a stock investment option, a bond option, and a cash or stable value option....

One thing that hasn’t changed is the need to send a thank-you note to your interviewers to express appreciation for the opportunity to meet with them, which can be done via email for more immediate follow-up. The Benefits of Sending a Thank-You Email Sending a thank-you email has a couple of important advantages over the old-fashioned, paper-and-ink variety of thank-you letter. With an email, for example, you can do more than remind your prospective employer of your qualities and skills: You can actually show them by including a link to your online portfolio, LinkedIn account, or professional social networking profiles....

So how do you work towards obtaining credit without supplying a personal guarantee? The key is adhering to a strict plan for building a company’s creditworthiness. For starters, a company should focus on applying for credit that will have a positive impact on the company’s credit reports. Steps to Making Your Company Credit Reports Better Helping Your Credit Score In the Meantime After you have accomplished all of these steps, especially after you have at least ten positive trade references, you should be able to have enough to get business credit without a personal guarantor....

Your income from all sources—business and personal—ultimately ends up somewhere on your personal tax return. Each source of income has its box on Form 1040. Business Income on Your Personal Tax Return There are a few different structuring options for small businesses. The most common are pass-through businesses that require income from the business to be passed through to Form 1040 where it is taxed as income. There are basically two categories for pass-through businesses:...

Homebuyers in the first quarter of 2021 typically paid 13.6% more for homes at high risk for flooding than for ones with low flood risk, up from 10.6% in the first quarter of 2020, real estate company Redfin said Wednesday—the most since Redfin started tracking the statistic in 2013. The chart below shows how the flood risk premium has leaped during the pandemic to the point where the median price of homes in flood zones is nearly $50,000 more than homes that are high and dry....

The challenge of valuing such property isn’t as difficult as it might sound. In fact, calculating the capitalization rate for real estate is easy and should take you no more than five minutes or so. It begins with an understanding of exactly what the cap rate is. What Is the Capitalization Rate? The cap rate is the rate of return you can expect on your investment based on how much income you believe the property will generate for you....

Roth IRAs also can be used for other purposes, including funding the purchase of a first home. Learn what the IRS considers a first home, how to tap your Roth IRA, and what you should consider before you do so. Can You Use a Roth IRA To Buy a House? You can withdraw your contributions at any time for any reason, including the purchase of a home. Additionally, even if you are not age 59 ½, you can withdraw up to $10,000 of your Roth IRA account earnings penalty-free if you qualify as a first-time homebuyer....