Filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a critical step. The process for graduate school is similar to what you went through as an undergrad, but there are some key differences. Undergraduate vs. Graduate When filing the FAFSA, you’re considered a graduate or professional student if you’re enrolled in or applying to any post-secondary schooling beyond a bachelor’s degree, such as a master’s degree, a medical degree, or a doctoral degree like a Ph....

This article gives details on where to mail your tax return and how to make sure it arrives on time to avoid late filing penalties. Mailing Your Tax Return The location for mailing your return depends on your location and whether you are making a payment. To use the table below, locate your state, then use the address depending on whether or not you are making a payment with your return....

Here, you’ll learn more about what differentiates these two roles and how to decide which is the best fit for your current situation. What’s the Difference Between Financial Advisors and Financial Planners? Two professionals might accurately call themselves financial advisors without sharing much in common. Brokers are financial advisors, for example, but their responsibilities are much different than those of an insurance agent or accountant, even though they are both considered financial advisors, as well....

By following a few best practices, you’ll know the best ways to reduce the risk of loss and increase your chance of success. Learn a select few, below. Easy Does It Easing, rather than rushing into the forex is probably the single most important thing you can do to better your odds. The forex is a highly leveraged market, with typical leverage ratios of 50:1 and 100:1. In some circumstances, a 200:1 leverage is available....

What Is Flexdrive? Flexdrive is essentially a white glove service for app-based car leasing. For a monthly fee, you’ll get to drive a vehicle of your choice. The costs of maintenance, roadside assistance, and insurance are all built into the monthly price. What Is the Advantage of Flexdrive? Convenience, mostly. You only have to think about one monthly fee, don’t have to purchase insurance, and don’t have to pay for maintenance costs....

State income tax is collected in 43 states. Within each of those states, you must file a state tax return along with your federal tax return. The good news is that filing your state returns is as easy as checking an extra box if you use tax software to prepare your federal return. The bad news is that it’s often expensive to file your state taxes this way. And there’s a still a chance that there could be extra charges tacked on even if you use free software....

The G-20’s primary mandate is to prevent future international financial crises and shape the global economic agenda. The finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-20 countries meet twice a year and at the same time as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In 1999, the meetings started as an informal get-together of finance ministers and central bankers seeking a dialogue between developing and developed countries....

A projected 7.7% of Americans will live below the poverty line in 2021, compared with 13.9% in 2018, according to a new estimate published Wednesday by the Urban Institute think tank. That picture is better than one presented by the same group earlier this year, which indicated that the American Rescue Plan relief bill would reduce the poverty rate to 8.7%. Without the government relief efforts, the group said, poverty would be at 13....

Building materials prices increased 20.3% in January from the same month last year and now have risen 28.7% since January 2020, the National Association of Home Builders said, pointing to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The overall increase was boosted by a 25.4% jump in softwood lumber prices in January, but other prices—like for indoor and outdoor paint—went up, too....

Hinterhaus Productions / Getty Images When a Bequest “Lapses” Your will might say, “I give 20% of my estate to Bob if he survives me.” Bob’s share of the estate will “lapse” if Bob doesn’t survive or live longer than the testator so he isn’t alive to receive it. Bob’s 20% share would legally cease to exist because he’s no longer living to accept it. All states have some form of “anti-lapse” statutes on their books that would allow the deceased beneficiary’s share to go to their family, provided that they were a close relative of the deceased....

Make the Payment as Soon as You Can If you’re only a few days late, you can typically avoid a late payment on your credit report as long as you make at least the minimum payment before the next billing cycle starts. Since creditors usually report delinquent payments at the 30-day mark, making your payment before it’s 30 days past due can save you from a seven-year blemish on your credit report and damage to your credit score....

Although the discussion of the gender pay gap tends to focus on how women earn compared to men, there are also discrepancies between the earnings of women in different careers. Some occupations offer higher pay than others. Curious about which occupations offer the most earning potential for working women? Per the BLS, these careers are among the most lucrative. Pharmacists manage and dispense medications to patients who have received a prescription from their doctors....

Here’s a quick look at the most significant economic indicators of the day and what they tell us. Existing Home Sales More homes were sold in January than in December, surprising forecasters who had expected a decline, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales rose 6.7%, more than making up for the 3.8% decline in December, and reaching the highest annualized pace in a year. Plenty of people wanted to buy houses despite few choices—in fact, buyers continued to practically pick listings clean, shrinking the number of homes for sale down to just 860,000 at the end of January, the lowest for any month since at least 1999....

You’ll also know that your personal affairs will remain just that—private. Your last will becomes a matter of public record when it’s submitted for probate. Set-Up A revocable trust is created by writing a trust agreement. The agreement involves three primary parties who are the trust-maker—also called the grantor or settlor—the trustee, and the beneficiary. As the names imply, the trust maker is the individual who makes and funds the trust....

Understanding Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency designed to serve as a medium of exchange. The “crypto” prefix comes from the fact that cryptocurrencies use cryptography to secure and verify transactions as well as create new currency units (coins). Cryptography makes it easy to encode something that is easy to decipher with a key and difficult to decipher without a key, which means that coins can be difficult to create, but transactions can be easy to verify....

One of the five key factors in your credit score is your mix of credit. This factor counts for 10% of your FICO credit score. This portion considers how much experience you have with different types of credit accounts. Your credit score reflects how well you manage different types of credit. The Different Types of Credit You Can Have Credit scoring calculations don’t reveal the specific number of points you can gain by adding different types of credit....

You might want to consider making estimated tax payments even if you don’t have any of these types of income. The payments can also cover taxes you might owe but didn’t have withheld from unemployment compensation or from the income you might have earned in a side gig. Who Should Pay Estimated Taxes? Anyone can pay estimated taxes. You can do so if some unforeseen circumstance crops up during the tax year that makes you think that the taxes that are being withheld from your paychecks might not be enough....

Most central banks use an inflation target of 2%. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced on August 27, 2020, that it would allow a target inflation rate of more than 2% if that would help ensure maximum employment. It still seeks a 2% inflation over time, but it’s willing to allow higher rates if inflation has been low for a while. Inflation targeting became an important monetary policy in the U....

But how do maternity leave policies in the U.S. compare to the average maternity leave in other countries? If you’ll soon be taking time away from work to take care of a new bundle of joy, here’s what you need to know. Maternity Leave in the US The length of maternity leave in the U.S. varies widely depending on your employer, your status of employment, where you live, and whether the leave is paid and for how much....

Standard Policy Coverage for Vacant Homes Don’t wait for a vacant home to be vandalized before checking your insurance policy. A little-known fact is that most homeowners insurance policies do not extend coverage on a vacant home for more than 30 days. This means if you’ve moved out more than a month ago, your home may no longer be insured, even though you may have paid the premium for your insurance policy....