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Businesses around the world accept payments on American Express cards, similar to payments processed by Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. However, unlike Visa and Mastercard, American Express is both a card issuer and an acquiring bank, so it receives revenue from cardholders and businesses that accept their cards. Alternate name: Amex American Express processes transactions made with its logo-bearing cards, including The Platinum Card from American Express, the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express, and the Delta Skymiles Blue Card from American Express....

You might need to make eligible rollover distributions to consolidate your retirement accounts. For example, if you change jobs, you may want to move assets from your old employer’s 401(k) into your new employer’s 401(k), rather than having two accounts. If your new employer doesn’t allow rollovers, you might decide to make an eligible rollover distribution from your previous employer’s plan into your own IRA. Another reason you might need to make eligible rollover distributions is to change providers....

Definition and Examples of Encroachments An encroachment is an intrusion on someone’s property rights by a neighbor. This can occur when one homeowner builds something on, or overhanging, a portion of their neighbor’s property, either intentionally or unintentionally. For example, one property owner may purposely or unwittingly expand their garden or erect a fence beyond their property boundaries into their neighbor’s yard. In major cases, someone may expand their home or garage or build a new structure on their property that’s partially on their neighbor’s property....

For example, say you’re buying your first home and you’re looking for a first-time homebuyer rehab loan. You can apply for a 203(k) loan to make the purchase and rehab the house. How FHA 203(k) Loans Work FHA 203(k) loans are guaranteed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), which means lenders take less risk. As a result, it may be easier to get approved (especially with a lower interest rate)....

If you’re struggling to make ends meet and you could use some FFEL student loan relief, the ISR repayment plan might work for you. Take a look at the requirements to find out whether this approach is right for you. What Is the Income-Sensitive Repayment Plan? When considering student loan repayment, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of various income-driven plans, aimed mostly at federal student loans in the Direct program....

Let’s say you run a manufacturing business. You need a loan to cover payroll expenses, but you don’t have a lot of cash on hand and find it challenging to get approved for traditional business loans. After you do some research, you find a lender that offers asset-backed lending to similar businesses in your situation. You decide to move forward with this option and borrow money against your manufacturing equipment....

The methods for cost allocation involve simple calculations, which can be beneficial to small business owners who need accurate financial information to help them price their products or services and make overall decisions. Learning about these methods can help you get a handle on your expenses and positively affect your bottom line. Definition and Examples of Cost Allocation Cost allocation is a method used to assess the costs associated with cost objects in specific categories within a business....

Creative thinking can involve: A new approach to a problemA resolution to a conflict between employeesA new result from a data setA previously untried approach to earn revenueA new product—or product feature Find out more about the various types of creative thinking, and why having this ability is very beneficial in the workplace. What Is Creative Thinking? Creative thinking means thinking outside the box. Often, creativity involves lateral thinking, which is the ability to perceive patterns that are not obvious....

How many loans and credit cards you’ve taken outHow much money you owe The number of on-time and late payments you’ve made How long you’ve had accounts open Whether your accounts are delinquent or in good standing Your creditors keep track of this activity and report it to the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These credit bureaus collect this information and turn it into your credit report. With your permission, lenders can check your credit reports to review your credit history when evaluating you for a loan or a line of credit....

Learn about EBIT, how accountants calculate it, and why businesses often prefer to use it to share their performance with creditors and investors. Definition and Examples of EBIT EBIT is an acronym for earnings before interest and taxes. Accountants use EBIT to identify a business’s net income before deducting expenses such as income tax and interest. EBIT is a non-GAAP measure—meaning it is not a traditional accounting principle. It is used to share a company’s operational earnings and ability to generate a profit....

Alternative definition: Here, we are talking about the fair value of an investment from the perspective of an individual investor. Fair value is treated differently in a financial reporting context, and is sometimes specifically defined by state law for use in legal matters. Alternative name: Intrinsic value How Fair Value Works Before we jump into the determination of fair value, it’s important to understand that the fair value of an investment is an estimated, or potential, value and requires some assumptions....

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) that passed in 2010 includes an Individual Shared Responsibility Provision, also known as the Individual Mandate, which fines individuals lacking insurance coverage. You were once required, with some exceptions, to demonstrate health insurance coverage for each month of the previous year. Insurance providers, therefore, would issue Form 1095-B to confirm enrollment of minimum essential coverage through either an insurance provider or a self-insured employer....

Alternate name: Gap insurance For instance, if you bought your car and still owe $20,000 on it, it may only have a Kelly Blue Book value of $15,000. You are “upside down” on your car loan. If you are then in an accident where your car is totaled, your insurance may only pay you for the value of the car, which is $15,000. That means you still owe $5,000 to the bank for the remaining balance on your car loan....

Alternate definition: In legal matters, per capita has a very precise definition. It means to divide an estate equally among all living beneficiaries. This is as opposed to “per stirpes.” That means to divide the estate between the branches of the family, regardless of the number of people in each branch. Per capita is often used to compare the economic indicators of countries with different population sizes. The most commonly measured indicators that use per capita are gross domestic product (GDP) and income....

For example, say your property was last reassessed 20 years ago for $100,000. If it is still valued at $100,000 for property tax purposes today, you would pay the same amount of property taxes that you paid 20 years earlier. If that property is reassessed, however, the property’s value would likely have increased or decreased over time, changing the tax rate you would pay. If the value is now determined to be $200,000 following reassessment, you would pay more in property taxes....

For example, say you have an account that gives you 1% annually compounding daily. You start with $100, so you’d earn .00274% daily (1% ÷ 365) in interest, and you end up with $100.0000274. The next day, you’ll earn another .00274%. At the end of one year (365 days), you’d have $101.01. How Do You Calculate Daily Compounding Interest? To calculate compound interest, use the following formula: Where: A = the total future value....

Let’s take a closer look at how the House Price Index (HPI) is calculated, and how it serves as an economic indicator by identifying trends in the housing market. Definition and Examples of The House Price Index The House Price Index (HPI) is a gauge of changes in single-family home values dating from the mid-1970s to the present by using a weighted analysis. It measures the average price change in repeat sales or refinancing of the same property....

Definition and Examples of the Over-the-Counter Market The over-the-counter (OTC) market refers to the sale of securities that happens outside a formal exchange. A variety of financial products can be traded over the counter, including stocks, bonds, commodities, and derivatives. How Does the Over-the-Counter Market Work? Companies that don’t meet the requirements to list their securities on an exchange—or those that simply don’t want to abide by those requirements—can instead list them on an OTC market....

The right of rescission is only good for some types of loans and doesn’t include new home purchase loans. The right of rescission comes from the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA), which was made to help protect borrowers and consumers from being pressured into loans and borrowing from questionable lenders. When interest rates hit record lows and the housing market is hot, refinancing your current mortgage with a different lender might look enticing....

To meet the SSA disability requirements, a child under age 18 must have a mental or physical impairment that markedly or severely limits their ability to function. As with adults, the child’s impairment must have lasted or will last for at least 12 months or have enough severity to cause death. Unlike a short-term disability, from which individuals can recover, TPDs are considered enduring or irreversible, from which a person can never fully recover....