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What’s more, not negotiating can cost you as much $1 million over the course of your career. A few thousand dollars a year can really add up. If you stay at the same company for many years, your raise will likely be calculated as a percentage of your current earnings, which means that a lowball salary will follow you throughout your tenure with the organization. Even if you leave for greener pastures, you might not escape the shadow of that one low-ball offer....

Co-Signer vs. Authorized User To share a credit card account, you can add a second person as an authorized user or as a joint account holder, also known as a co-signer. An authorized user isn’t legally responsible for making payments on the credit card but can make purchases on the account. Joint account holders are equally liable for making credit card payments. Both options have benefits. Before deciding which to choose, carefully consider your own situation....

This article takes you through some of the tax issues related to employee drivers of company cars. Only Business Use Is Deductible No matter who is driving a company car, only business use of that car is deductible as a business expense. The driver must keep good contemporaneous records of driving to show business use as opposed to personal use. Contemporaneous records are records made at the time of the driving event....

Review what a skill set is, types and examples, and how to develop skill sets. What Is a Skill Set? A skill set is the combination of knowledge, personal qualities, and abilities that you’ve developed through your life and work. It typically combines two types of skills: soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are interpersonal or people skills. They are somewhat difficult to quantify and relate to someone’s personality and ability to work with others....

“It isn’t so much that we need parents to be the ultimate teachers,” said Laura Levine, president and CEO of Jump$tart Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on advancing financial education in schools around the U.S. “It doesn’t have to be all these big learning moments. No matter what your personal situation may be, it’s just important to carve out time to talk.”Enhancing financial education has been a constant thread throughout Levine’s career....

Tax cuts occur in different forms. Governments can cut taxes on income, profits, sales, or assets. The cut can be a one-time rebate, a reduction in the overall rate, or a tax credit. Tax cuts also include other types of tax benefits like tax deductions, loopholes, or credits. What Are Tax Cuts? Tax cuts are changes in the law that reduce your tax payment along with government revenue. Why would the government cut taxes?...

Municipal bonds can be taxable or tax-exempt. The latter are much more common. It can be smart to add these assets to a taxable portfolio because a portion or all of the income they generate can be exempt from taxes. Here’s what you need to know about municipal bonds, how they’re taxed, and how they compare to corporate bonds. What Are Municipal Bond Funds? In general, a bond is a debt obligation....

What Is a Freelancer? A freelancer is someone who offers their services for a fee and usually with no expectation of a permanent single client, although the working relationship can be ongoing. It’s a form of self-employment, similar to operating a home business versus telecommuting. With that said, a freelancer can work as a contractor, as opposed to a home business. Why Would You Want to Freelance? There are several reasons to start freelancing:...

Dan Kitwood /Getty Images In what was hailed as one of the biggest changes to stock classifications since the 11-sector system was put into place in 1999, many recognizable tech stocks were officially considered communications companies. In short, the telecommunications sector was re-named “Communications Services” and now includes some companies formerly from other sectors, including tech. As much as 8.2% of the entire market capitalization of the S&P 500 was impacted by this change....

How the Prime Rate Is Determined Banks base the prime rate on the federal funds rate, generally setting it three percentage points higher. The fed funds rate—set by the Federal Reserve—is the rate banks charge each other for special overnight loans. They borrow fed funds from each other to fulfill the Fed’s reserve requirement each night. Banks lowered the prime rate after the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee reduced the target for the fed funds rate for the second time in 2020, cutting it to a range of 0% to 0....

Learn How To Budget The first step toward financial responsibility is budgeting properly. Yes, budgets can be boring. But they are also the cornerstone of financial responsibility, no matter your salary or financial situation. Budgets are a way to tell your money where to go, such as paying bills, chipping away at debt or contributing to retirement, rather than spending freely, then wondering where all your money went at the end of the month....

The purpose of diversification is to reduce volatility and improve overall performance. It works if you do diversification correctly. The first type of diversification is the one most commonly understood as don’t put all your eggs in one basket. This simply means don’t just own one or two stocks. One common way people get in trouble is owning too much of their employer’s stocks. Good Deal You may get a good deal on company stock and load up in your retirement fund and buy more for your investment fund because you believe in your company....

The EITC in many states is refundable. You’ll receive the difference if your credit is more than the taxes you owe there, but not in Virginia. The credit can only erase your tax obligation. The state keeps the rest if there’s anything left over. You can’t carry over any unused portion to future years, either. Income Requirements for Virginia’s EITC Your family’s total adjusted gross income (AGI) must fall below either federal poverty guidelines or the U....

Why You Would Want to Remove a Board Member You may find yourself in the uncomfortable position of having to remove a director from your board of directors. This circumstance might happen for one of several reasons: The director has a continuing conflict of interest that cannot be reconciled or is failing in his/her fiduciary responsibilities. For example, let’s say Sam is a board member of a company that decorates office has an office furniture company....

The average rate offered to homebuyers using a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.90% from 3.91% the previous business day, moving a tad further away from last week’s 3.95%, the highest we’d seen since 2020. The average for a 15-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.03% from 3.04% the previous business day, edging away from the 3.07% seen last week, also a high point since 2020. Fixed mortgage rates tend to track the direction of 10-year Treasury yields, which usually rise with heightened inflation fears (and fall when those fears subside....

But not all media jobs require a press pass. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, these emerging (or still relevant!) media jobs offer a decent occupational outlook and a living wage. Top 10 Jobs in the Media Industry 1. Interpreter/Translator Formal education is less important than language skills for this job; interpreters and translators need to have native-level proficiency in both languages, the language of the original text or speech, and the language of the finished product....

However, choosing a travel credit card can be complex. There are two types of travel rewards cards: flexible and co-branded. If you want to earn rewards that you can use for lots of different airlines or hotel brands, a flexible travel card is often best, but if you’re an avid and loyal customer of a particular airline or hotel chain, a co-branded card may be the most lucrative. Besides unraveling how a card’s reward system works, look carefully at the benefits you’d receive....

Zero coupon bonds or zeros don’t make regular interest payments like other bonds do. You receive all the interest in one lump sum when the bond matures. You purchase the bond at a deep discount and redeem it a full face value when it matures. The difference is the interest that has accumulated over the years. Various Maturities Zero coupon bonds generally come in maturities from one to 40 years....

Learn more about universal life insurance and whether it is right for you. What Is Universal Life Insurance? Universal life is a form of “permanent” life insurance. It is made to cover you for your entire life and payout a set amount of money upon your death. It also has a cash value that you can access as a loan while you’re living. UL differs from other types of permanent life insurance....

Learn more about how venture capitalists work, the types of businesses they invest in, and a few basic tips for seeking venture capitalist funding for your business. What Is a Venture Capitalist? A venture capitalist (VC) is defined by the large investments they make in a promising startup or young business. A venture capitalist can work on their own, but it’s more common for them to work for a venture capital firm that pools money from members....