Living trusts keep your assets out of probate court if you pass away, because the trust technically owns everything. The person you name as the trustee takes over your assets and acts according to the wishes you laid out in the trust. However, not all of your assets can or should go into a living trust. Here are some items that you shouldn’t include in a living trust. Everyone’s financial situations and circumstances are different—make sure you talk with your estate planner to ensure that you include assets that you can legally leave to your beneficiaries....

While pay can vary by company, industry, and years of experience, management pay usually rewards the role well. The median annual pay for management occupations was the highest of all wage groups at $102,450 in May 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Preschool and childcare-center directors make the lowest management-related salaries with an annual median pay of $47,310, while computer and information systems managers make the most at $159,010....

What Is an Immediate Annuity? An annuity is a contractual financial product issued by an insurance company. In most cases, an individual buys an annuity, the funds stay in it for a time, and then it pays out an agreed-upon amount each year. In some cases, annuities are funded over the course of years before they start to pay out. An immediate annuity, however, is typically purchased with one lump-sum payment and then starts paying out soon after you buy it....

In most cases, the right to discuss your salary with co-workers is protected under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. Section 7 of the act in particular protects employees’ rights to engage in “…concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” However, just because you’re allowed to do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. The question remains: Is it in your best interest to talk about money on the job?...

You may not feel comfortable naming your price, especially early in the process. So, how do you know when and how to disclose your compensation requirements when you apply for jobs? Why Companies Want Your Salary Information Companies request compensation information for various reasons. If your salary requirement (or salary history) is too high, employers can screen you out because they don’t want to pay that much, or because they think you won’t be happy working for less money....

In some states on the East Coast, it’s common to write a letter of intent to purchase a home, and, in many ways, it seems like a more civilized way to buy. However, many other states require using a purchase contract. This is because purchase contracts may include provisions that let a buyer cancel the contract and get back their entire earnest money deposit. Don’t Hesitate to Make a Purchase Offer If the home you’re thinking about buying is likely to sell quickly, and if you have a way to cancel the contract later, you should immediately make a purchase offer....

An LLC (limited liability company) is one of several legal structures for a new business. It combines elements of a business partnership and a corporation. Perhaps the main reason for forming an LLC is to help protect your personal assets in case your business faces lawsuits or bankruptcy. Each state has its own laws about creating an LLC. Plus, each state has its own business-friendly or business-unfriendly environment, complete with favorable or unfavorable tax rates....

Before answering these questions, it’s worth noting that the best time frames to monitor and trade should be laid out in your trading plan. If you haven’t created a trading plan yet, use this information to learn more about your options for day-trading strategies. If you already have a trading plan, it’s time to scrap the confusion and learn about the best time frames to watch while day trading....

Learn more about who gets a copy of the will after a death and how you may be able to access one on your own. Where Can I Find a Loved One’s Will? If you are a named party in a loved one’s will, they may have informed you ahead of time. As an executor or trustee, for example, you may have received a copy of the will or been told where it is being kept....

If you’ve had a few issues or haven’t been making your payments, you might get a letter from your insurer that says your policy is being canceled. Here’s what it means (and what you can do) when you receive an insurance cancellation letter. Why Your Policy Is Being Canceled It’s not likely that an insurer will cancel a policy without good reason. Carriers can cancel policies at will within the first 60 days....

But what causes insolvency? The answer is complex, but it usually boils down to failures of management, marketing, and finances. What is Business Bankruptcy? Business bankruptcy is about debt. A business becomes bankrupt when it can no longer pay its bills and there is no chance of being able to take on more debt to pay them. Bankruptcy is a process run by U.S. bankruptcy courts that helps businesses and individuals who can no longer pay their debts an opportunity for a fresh start....

A short sale can only happen if the lender agrees to accept less than is owed on the existing mortgage. Here are are some of the pitfalls for buyers looking into short sale homes. Short Sales Don’t Mean a Discount Banks are eager to lend money in a rising market. They might give out a loan that is too much for the buyers to handle. When the market finally drops, the owner is left with little equity and a mortgage that a sale will not pay off....

While the aforementioned aspects of the winter probably bring a smile to your face, there’s another element that’s just as important as building family and community ties: protecting your property in case an unexpected storm or other disaster strikes. Winter is a crucial insurance season. Weather-related damage often occurs in the coldest months – you can thank those beautiful snow and ice storms, as well as less-than-pleasant hail. Insurance is one of those things that needs to be thought of ahead of time....

In an effort to reduce child poverty amid the pandemic’s economic upheavals, the American Rescue Plan boosted the credit to a per-child maximum of $3,600 from $2,000, expanded eligibility to low or no income families, and instituted automatic monthly payments from the IRS. Many parents had spent the extra money on food, causing a 26% reduction in child hunger, according to one analysis. Democrats tried to extend the expanded credit as part of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill, but the $1....

Estimated Policy Premium Your workers’ compensation premium is calculated by multiplying a rate times your payroll and dividing the result by 100. For example, suppose that your payroll is $500,000 and the rate is $0.10. Your premium is 500,000 X 0.1 / 100 or $500. The premium you pay at the beginning of your policy period is a provisional amount. It is an estimate based on your projected payrolls for the coming year....

The share of adults either working or actively looking for work recovered all the ground lost over the summer as the delta variant of the coronavirus spread, researchers at Morning Consult said Thursday. The data intelligence company, which polls 6,000 Americans every day, said its weekly labor force participation rate improved in October to 54.2%, the highest level since early July, just before COVID-19 cases began surging again, as the chart below shows: The labor participation rate has remained stubbornly low, even as the economy has bounced back from last year’s recession....

Here we will cover all of the forms a new employee must complete, the general purpose of each form, along with any notable details that each form documents. Register as an Employer With the IRS Before you start the process of hiring employees, you must first register with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as an employer by getting an Employer ID Number (EIN). This is an identification number that almost all businesses must have for payroll tax reports and payments....

1. Shop Different Insurance Carriers The first and best thing you can do is comparison shop for car insurance rates from different carriers. You can search online quoting websites such as Compare.com, Insurify, QuoteLab, and The Zebra. You could also consider contacting an independent agent for help in getting the best price. Independent agents typically sell policies for five to eight insurance companies, allowing them to choose from among several options to determine what is best for you....

Establish a Budget The first step to saving money is understanding where your money is going each month. “You can’t start effectively saving money until you have a well-defined monthly budget,” finance writer Chris Panteli told The Balance in an email interview. A budget puts you in control of your money. The trick is finding the one that’s right for you. A proper budget should contain at least your monthly income, your fixed expenses, and an allocation of funds toward entertainment....

d3sign/Getty Images Trading Too Much The more you buy and sell your investments, the greater your chance of losing money. If you invested $10,000 in the S&P 500 in 1995 and stayed invested through 2014, you would’ve earned 9.85% annually, or $59,593. However, if you had missed the best 10 days during that 19-year period, your return would have fallen to 6.1%. Nineteen years later, your initial $10,000 would have been worth $30,803....