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To financially prepare for your divorce, start by taking stock of your current financial situation. You may want or need to set up new bank accounts, while also updating old ones. Luckily, you’re not the first person who’s had to figure out how to prepare for divorce, and we’re here to help you figure out your finances. Take Inventory of Your Finances Your first steps in financially preparing for a divorce should include consulting with a lawyer, determining costs, and finding out what you have....

Grants essentially are free money, providing businesses of all types, sizes, ages, and industries with the resources to grow without requiring anything in return.Learn what grant opportunities are perfect for your business, including what types are available, how to find them, and how to apply for them. How Small Business Grants Work Small business grants can be divided into two categories: those from the government (local, state, or federal) and those from private organizations....

Where To Look for a Tax Accountant Asking for referrals can be a good bet when it comes to finding someone who’s the right fit for what you need. Ask business owners, financial advisors, and attorneys that you trust, as well as any friends or family members who work with an accountant. Don’t hesitate to call the firm or the accountant to find out whether they have the expertise to handle your taxes if there’s anything unusual about your situation....

You can get equity out of your home by taking out a home equity loan, home equity line of credit (HELOC), or cash-out refinance loan. Among the possible advantages of these types of lending are lower interest rates than other types of credit and tax deductions for interest paid on loans. But the potential drawbacks include losing your home to foreclosure if you fall behind on loan payments, losing the equity you’ve built up in your home, and paying fees and other lending expenses....

Typically, banks and car dealers run credit checks on borrowers who apply for auto loans. If the borrower has a lower credit score, they’re considered more at risk of defaulting on the loan and will be denied credit or offered a higher interest rate. If your credit is in this range, you still have options, however. If you have bad credit—or no credit—a no credit check car loan might be the right choice for you....

Sometimes, your perception of your performance will differ from that of your boss, or you’ll find yourself in a place where you’re unable to do your best work for one reason or another. A negative or even lukewarm reference can knock you right out of contention for a role. But with a little preparation, you can avoid getting a bad reference—or contain the damage when the situation is unavoidable....

One of the best advantages of ETFs is the ability to enter certain markets (like Russia) without loading up on equities or battling index basket pricing. Instead, you can get instant exposure to Russian markets with one easy transaction. So for those who have a desire to invest in Russia, an ETF might make sense. There aren’t a lot of Russian funds to choose from. But this list may grow over the years as foreign ETFs gain popularity....

Still, many people who are invested in them may not be able to tell you what mutual funds are, how they work, or how you earn money from owning them. Mutual Funds Defined To understand how investors make money in mutual funds, you should know what a mutual fund is and how it creates profits. Simply stated, mutual fund is a term used to describe a fund that owns a group of investments....

Know Your Peak Work Times Many productivity books suggest that you don’t put email as your first to-do in the morning. Others recommend doing your hardest tasks first. But true productivity comes when you understand your peak work times—times when you feel the most focus and energy—and schedule your work accordingly. For some people, getting into work mode takes time, so starting with email is an ideal way to ease into the day....

They say things such as “I’m scared to start my own business. I don’t know if enough people would be interested in buying this product.” Or “I’d like to start a business but I’m not very good at selling.” Or even “I’d like to start a small business but I don’t know if I could make enough money to live on.” See? The obstacle to starting a small business is not actually about products or selling or money – it’s fear of failure....

There are a couple of ways you can profit from Bitcoin. You can either trade cryptocurrencies or mine them. While most people are familiar with the concept of buying, selling, and trading investments and currencies like stocks and foreign exchanges, they may not be aware that one can actually create one’s own Bitcoin. It is important to remember that anytime you’re dealing with speculation in the financial markets—traditional or crypto—it’s risky....

With all order types, there are pros and cons. For a stop order, it will execute into a market order once the stock price reaches the stop order amount. At this point, this guarantees execution but not a specific price. A common misconception is the stop order price “protects” the stock from selling below this amount. A stop limit order would offer this protection by executing a limit order but gives up the guaranteed execution....

Best-case scenario, you may have a better chance of getting accepted the second time around. Reasons to Reapply for a Job Applicants often wonder if it is a good idea to reapply for a job that they have already applied for in the past. The following are good reasons that support your decision to reapply: If you have enhanced your credentials. Your chances of receiving serious consideration the second time around will be greater if considerable time has passed and/or if you have enhanced your credentials in some way since your first application....

There are bond analysts and credit agencies who do most of the work for you, so you only have to know where to look and how to interpret the information. View the Ratings Most of the hard part of researching bonds is done for you by three bond rating agencies: Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch. Much like people have credit reports that detail their creditworthiness, institutions that issue bonds have ratings based on their ability to make interest payments and return the principal in full....

Do not expect to become an expert and sift through mounds of data when researching commodities. You want enough information to make rational trading decisions. When trading the commodity markets, there are many levels of research to consider. A robust approach to gathering data on these markets always includes both a technical and a fundamental approach. Commodity Profiles The first thing you want to do is learn about individual commodities....

1. Save the Dates You Don’t Want to Miss Maximize your benefits, and avoid being penalized by scheduling essential retirement-related milestones on your calendar. Apply for Social Security 4 Months in Advance Sign up for Social Security benefits four months before you’d like to start receiving income. It’s the earliest you can apply, it and gives the Social Security Administration time to process your request. Most people can take Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62....

Transactions usually take a few days to process, but payments are typically easy to manage. While the majority of transfers are problem-free, mistakes happen occasionally. In those cases, it helps to know if and when you can reverse, stop, or cancel a payment. How Do You Reverse an ACH Payment? National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) rules cover if and when a simple reversal is allowed. Your bank can only reverse a payment from your account for one of the following reasons:...

The other driver’s insurance company should contact you to initiate the claims process. At some point, after it has gathered information about the accident, vehicle damage, and any injuries, the company will offer a settlement amount to cover your claim. You might not know if the amount it offers you is enough to cover the damage to your car; it might not be enough. This is an issue that many people do not know how to handle....

Your credit cards may have a metal square on the front above the card number (what you see is really a protective overlay for the chip). What Is an EMV Credit Card and Why Does It Have a Chip? The EMV chip credit card—named for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, the companies that created the standard—is a safer type of credit card. Similar to the magnetic strip on your old credit cards, the chip on the EMV credit card holds your credit card information and transmits the data to payment processors in a way that’s tougher for criminals to hack and use....

When To Write Out Numbers Writing a check is the most common situation in which you’ll need to write out an amount using words (in addition to the numerals in the dollar box). Doing so helps to prevent confusion and fraud—numbers can easily be altered or misread, but an amount written in words is much harder to tamper with. In most cases, it doesn’t matter how you write it. Nobody will notice unless there’s a problem with the check....