Whether you have a 50-employee company or an empire of one, your business success depends on your ability to set and achieve goals. Put your business on the fast-track by applying the principles of SMART goal setting. SMART is an acronym for the 5 elements of specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based goals. It’s a simple tool used by businesses to go beyond the realm of fuzzy goal-setting into an actionable plan for results....
In many cases—for those homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages anyway—the principal and interest portions of your monthly mortgage payments have some sort of stability over the life of your loan. There are instances where your mortgage payments can change, however. We highlight some common reasons below. Your Homeowners Insurance or Property Taxes Increased Monthly mortgage payments include four components that are collectively called PITI—principal, insurance, taxes, and insurance. The property taxes and homeowner’s insurance portions of your mortgage payment are often held in an escrow account so your mortgage servicer can make sure those obligations are paid every year....
Equity financing is a method of small business finance that consists of gathering funds from investors to finance your business. Equity financing involves raising money by offering portions of your company, called shares, to investors. When a business owner uses equity financing, they are selling part of their ownership interest in their business. Here are seven types of equity financing for start-up or growing companies. This type of funding requires developing the offering in compliance with the guidelines established by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)....
Opening a Credit Card Before You’re Ready While you can technically get a credit card at age 18, being of age doesn’t mean you’re officially ready for a credit card. Before you apply for your first credit card, you should have some financial basics in place. You should be able to handle a checking account without making overdrafts, make deadlines without being told, and have good money management skills. Without some basic financial skills, you’re at risk of ruining your credit before you get to use it....
Brief History of Lockboxes While lockboxes offer convenience, they are integral to the sale of a home. If they didn’t exist, agents wouldn’t have the freedom to show potential buyers the property beyond without the seller being present. Homes with a lockbox get more showings. If you’re wondering whether a lockbox is better than appointments, you’ll probably get more buyers to view your home with a lockbox. Lockboxes have evolved over time....
Financial futures are designed as commodities as they are under the regulatory umbrella of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The E-mini S&P 500 and Eurodollar markets are among the highest-volume futures markets. Commodities Ranked by Volume Below are the rankings of the top ten highest volume commodity contracts that traded in the U.S. in 2021, according to calculations by the Futures Industry Association. Liquidity is a significant consideration. It is important to be able to enter and exit positions without a great deal of slippage....
Transferring Helps You Build Experience Transferring to a new role allows an employee to gain experience and learn new skills while remaining within the business. Often transfer opportunities are more available than promotions because fewer employees inhabit each successive layer as they rise up the organization chart. As managers look for ways to help employees continue to develop their skills, experience, and knowledge about the business, a transfer is an option to consider....
Long-Term Bond Funds: High Risk, High Return From the return figures above, it’s clear that long-term bond funds can sometimes provide the type of gains associated with higher-risk asset classes, such as small-cap stocks. The reason for this is that when bond yields fall, longer-term issues generally provide the best performance. As a result, 2011 was the perfect environment for these funds: during the course of the year, the yield on the 10-year note plunged from 3....
How Social Security Disability Works SSDI benefits are provided to those who can’t work due to a medical condition or other disability. For you to be eligible, the Social Security Administration (SSA) must conclude that you can’t do the kind of work you did before you became ill or disabled and that your condition will prevent you from being able to adjust to other work. Your illness or disability must have lasted at least a year or be expected to either last at least one year or result in death....
You Can Cover Your Bills Before deciding how to move out, ensure that you can afford to live on your own. Create a detailed monthly budget, which is a plan for how to spend money. Start by writing down what you spend and what you earn in a month. As you build this spending plan, include any extra expenses that you may incur when you move out. These include items such as utilities, transportation costs, food, and rent....
One of the most common places in which social anxiety can be triggered and exacerbated is at the office, where the fear of humiliation, rejection, and scrutiny from colleagues and managers can take a significant psychological and physical toll. What Protections Should an Employer Offer? Mental health issues like social anxiety, depression, and stress can certainly be costly—not just to employees, but the business itself. According to research from Stanford Graduate School of Business professors and a report from McKinsey, mental health disorders can have adverse effects on productivity, drive up voluntary turnover, and cost U....
A deficit must be paid. If it isn’t, then it creates debt. Each year’s deficit adds to the debt. As the debt grows, it increases the deficit in two ways. First, the interest on the debt must be paid each year. This increases spending while not providing any benefits. Second, higher debt levels can make it more difficult to raise funds. Creditors become concerned about the borrower’s ability to repay the debt....
Extenuating Circumstances for Buy and Bail Sometimes homeowners feel justified because they believe they were duped when they bought their existing home. A few of the reasons buy and bail borrowers feel misled are as follows: Mortgage representative did not thoroughly explain the consequences of the financing such as adjustable-rate loans will adjust or interest-only payment options do not pay down the principal. The real estate agent led the buyer to believe that home values can never fall....
Deed restrictions often help maintain the look and feel of residential areas, specifically those with homeowners associations. So, in some situations, deed restrictions can be helpful to homeowners. They can also throw a wrench in your plans for your property. Learn more about deed restrictions, the different types that exist, and how to get them removed. What Are Deed Restrictions? Also called restrictive covenants and CC&Rs, deed restrictions are provisions attached to the title of a home....
Anti-Assignment Clause In the standard ISO policies, the anti-assignment clause is located in a separate form called the Common Policy Conditions. These conditions apply to all coverages that are included in the policy. For instance, if a policy includes business auto, general liability, and commercial property coverages, the anti-assignment clause applies to all three coverages. The clause is entitled Transfer of Your Rights and Duties Under This Policy. It includes the following provision: The anti-assignment clause prohibits the named insured from transferring any of its rights or obligations under the policy to someone else without the insurer’s permission....
Learn more about how loan modification impacts your chances at a home equity loan, your options for finding out more about your situation, and alternatives to home equity loans. What Is Loan Modification? A loan modification is an agreement between you and your mortgage company to change some aspect of your original loan. Usually, the loan modification aims to reduce your monthly payments. For example, you might agree to change how much you pay, how long you’ll pay the mortgage, or reduce the interest rate....
Learn the differences between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA and whether you should choose just one or contribute to both. Traditional IRAs vs. Roth IRAs: What Are the Differences? The major distinction between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA is the characterization of the money you contribute to each. Contributions to traditional IRAs typically are typically made with pretax dollars. You can claim a tax deduction for those amounts in the year you make them....
While CDs can earn you interest on the money you deposit, they can also come with costs that may chip away at your earnings. Here’s a closer look at the different CD costs you may encounter, and how to minimize or avoid them. Broker Fees While you can buy traditional certificates of deposit directly from banks and credit unions, brokered CDs are bought by third-party brokers who then sell them to you....
Lot Size Matters Finding the lot size that best balances opportunity and risk is a very important individual decision. Using a tool like a risk-management calculator can help you clarify your decisions about lot size, but you should do so by factoring in your own risk tolerance and your trading objectives. The trading lot size directly impacts how much a market move affects your accounts. For example, a 100-pip move on a small trade will not be felt nearly as much as the same 100-pip move on very large trade size....
Sending a cold contact cover letter provides you with an opportunity to be considered by the company for employment. Because writing this type of letter takes time, it’s a good idea to only send cold contact cover letters to companies that you are very interested in working for. Cold Contact Cover Letter Example The following is an example of a cold contact cover letter sent to an employer that hasn’t advertised job openings....
