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Tackling your estate plan begins with hiring the right attorney, and this guide is here to help you do just that. Questions To Ask About Your Estate Planner While it’s important to put together an estate plan that works for you, it’s equally important to select a professional who will work with you to help set it up. Here are some questions to ask during your search for an estate planning attorney that can prove useful in finding someone who’s the right fit for you and offer some clarity about the estate planning process itself....

Most people are consistent consumers of commodities, which means we have a wealth of knowledge about many of these things. If you’re interested in investing, consider using the everyday expertise you gain as a commodity consumer to hone your investment skills and grow your nest egg. Investing in Commodities Commodities trade on the commodities exchange, which is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rather than the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)....

Opening a checking account for kids can be a valuable first interaction with the banking world and a chance to initiate conversations about how to spend money, interact with financial institutions, and appropriately weigh financial decisions. You may also want to link your child’s checking account to a savings account. By understanding the typical features of checking accounts for kids, you can make a choice about how to open an account, where to open it, and ways to avoid fees or unexpected restrictions....

What Are Itemized Deductions? A deduction, in general, is an expense that can be claimed on a tax return so the amount of income taxed is lowered, reducing the amount of tax owed. An itemized deduction is a particular expense (for example, real estate or property tax) that can be claimed as an expense for that specific tax year. When you file your individual taxes using Form 1040, you have the option to claim either itemized deductions or the standard deduction, but you can’t claim both....

Most U.S. workers are covered under the provisions of employment at will, meaning that they can be discharged for any reason – or no reason at all – without cause or notice, as the employer sees fit. Employment at will also means that employers can change the terms of employment unless employees are covered by any of the exceptions referenced below. These exceptions to employment at will provide legal protections for workers who are covered by state and federal law, collective bargaining agreements, contracts, public policy, and other circumstances and situations where employee rights are protected....

The Office of Management and Budget uses it as the official federal poverty definition, whereas the Department of Health and Human Services bases its calculations for the federal poverty level on it. Learn how the poverty threshold works and its history, as well as how poverty is impacting America today. How Poverty Is Defined The Census Bureau’s definition of poverty—based on pre-tax income, including earnings, pensions, or retirement income—is precise....

The Forex market has an estimated turnover of $6.6 trillion a day. It is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. Demand and supply determine the differences in exchange rates, which in turn, determine traders’ profits. This global market has two tiers. The first is the interbank market. It’s where the biggest banks exchange currencies with each other. Even though it only has a few members, the trades are enormous....

Normally, people are only entitled to one free credit report per year, available at AnnualCreditReport.com. But on April 20, 2020, the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian—increased the frequency to once per week, in a program that was set to expire after one year. The latest extension adds another year to the program. “Access to financial information and records on a more frequent basis helps people plan for their future while also taking care of the present during these challenging times,” CEOs of the three credit bureaus said in a joint statement Tuesday....

What Your Client Wants to Know When interviewing freelancers, clients don’t need to worry about how you’ll fit into the corporate culture or where you want to be in five years. Depending on the gig, it might not even matter whether you’re a morning person or a night person or what your typical work week looks like. Instead, expect questions geared toward results. That’s because, even more than regular employees, contract workers are there to solve a specific problem....

The government’s March 31 commitment to release 180 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the next six months has helped bring the market price of oil down, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a recent blog post. In the next 10-15 days or so, gas prices should fall below $4, De Haan said on Twitter Friday. The price of oil, which spiked because of sanctions against Russian oil, is down 21% to under $100 a barrel from its recent peak....

Rule #1: Keep Debt Under Control Ideally, you have no consumer debt but again, that’s not always realistic. You may have student loan debt, credit cards, a car payment, or another type of debt you’re trying to manage. In terms of how much debt is too much, most financial planning experts agree that your total monthly debt payments shouldn’t exceed 36% of your gross monthly income. This is a good starting point, and over time if you can reduce that number you’ll be in pretty good shape....

It’s also called Cyber Monday 2 because it’s the second-biggest day for online holiday shopping. Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Thanksgiving, and it’s the busiest online shopping day of the year. What Is Green Monday? Like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday, Green Monday is not an official holiday. Rather, it is a day when online sales are promoted because historically it was a day when many people realized they were running out of time to get items shipped to their homes by Christmas....

Here’s information on what to include in your resume, as well as what shouldn’t be listed on your resume. There are also guidelines for resume length, font, and page margins. What to Include in Your Resume Here’s some information that you should be sure to include on your resume: Identification Include your name, address, telephone number, and email address in the identification section at the top of your resume, or consider one of these other options for addressing your resume....

Why Employers Set Closing Dates As a hard-and-fast-rule, it’s always much better if you submit your job application by the closing date. That’s just common sense. Organizations set closing dates to cut off the number of applications they must consider for vacant positions. They give the job posting enough time to attract a sufficient applicant pool, but not so much time that the volume of applications overwhelms people screening those applications....

Review the differences between hard and soft skills, what employers look for, how to highlight your skills, and examples of each type of skill. What Are Hard Skills? Hard skills are teachable abilities or skill sets that are easy to quantify. Typically, you’ll learn hard skills in the classroom, through books or other training materials, or on the job. These hard skills are often listed in your cover letter and on your resume and are easy for an employer or recruiter to recognize....

This can be crippling to your long-term financial health. Take a look at some numbers so you can see exactly what you lose by not investing. You Will Need Funds in Retirement Before we get into the details of what you lose by not investing, it is important to understand your needs in the future. For most people, the biggest financial milestone is the day you walk out of work and don’t return....

A tax professional is someone who has the experience and credentials to help you with taxes, specifically business taxes. A tax professional is more than just a tax advisor. Why You Need a Tax Professional You don’t have a tax professional you trust to help you with your business taxes? It’s never too late to start looking. Having a good tax advisor can mean the following: Saving money at tax time....

Hiring Family Members In some cases, children must be treated differently for tax and work purposes, but for adults, everything you do for other employees, and every employment tax you pay for other employees, and every benefit you give to other employees should be the same for members of your family. Treating family employees the same as you do other employees prevents charges of favoritism, and it may keep your business from being cited by federal and state agencies for violations of tax and employment laws....

Learn about the price of gold from 30 BCE through today. Gold’s Value in the Roman Empire Emperor Augustus, who reigned in ancient Rome from 31 BCE to 14 CE, set the price of gold at 40-42 coins to the pound. In other words, a pound of gold could make 40-42 coins. The next re-evaluation occurred in the period of 211 to 217 CE, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla), who debased the value to 50 coins for a pound of gold, reducing the value of each coin and making gold worth more....

Credit card issuers have different requirements for changing your name on your credit card. If you need to correct the spelling of your name or add a middle initial, you may be able to complete the process online or with a quick phone call to customer service. For a major name change, you may need to call or send documentation to change your name on a credit card. The process can be time-consuming depending on the number of credit cards you have....