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The Balance spoke with three U.S. homeowners from different walks of life about their experiences managing home-related expenses. Here are their stories. E.J. Malveaux, Atlanta, Georgia For E.J. Malveaux, the expenses he gives most of his attention to as a single homeowner are the ones that make homeownership “as easy as possible.” He bought his home in 2016 at age 27 and since then, several upgrades have been made to improve the home’s efficiency, such as a kitchen remodel and the purchase of a warranty plan....

In any case, there’s no wrong way to customize your banking and bill paying, so long as it’s fair, transparent, and sustainable for both parties. Below are three examples of how couples can share money each month: The Proportional Method Couples who use the proportional method to combine their finances each contribute into the household bills at a rate that’s proportional to their income. Example: John and Sally John earns $2,000 per month, which is 33% of the total household income; Sally earns $4,000 per month, or 66% of the total household income....

If your plan offers a loan that you have considered taking, learn more about what’s good and bad about 401(k) loans. 401(k) Loan Advantages The biggest advantage of a 401(k) loan is that you are both the borrower and the lender, so you pay yourself back with interest. If you have to take a loan, it’s better than having to pay back anyone else. 401(k) loans are typically offered at a very competitive rate of interest....

There are a variety of vesting schedules your company may follow. You may be vested immediately or after working there for three years, or perhaps there is a gradual increase each year. Your employer can tell you about their vesting schedule. The reason companies set up 401(k)s in this manner is because they want the workers they hire and train to stay with them. If you haven’t been with your company long, you may not yet be vested in your account, and they hope that’s an incentive to stay with the company until you are....

Although it can be daunting to try to purchase a property in a raging real estate market, it can be done. Here are some tips for buying a house in a seller’s market. What Is a Seller’s Market? A seller’s market occurs when there is more demand for homes than are available on the market. This results in fierce competition between buyers seeking to purchase from a limited pool of properties....

Research shows that 61% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Over 30% of unemployed people are out of work for 15 weeks or longer, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That presents a serious financial challenge for the majority of U.S. workers, who find themselves low on cash soon after losing a job. The good news is that there are many ways to earn money while you look for your next full-time role....

Determining what federal tax forms you need to file will depend on the form of your business. Each form of business—sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, S corporation, and limited liability company (LLC)—has specific sets of filing rules. When it comes to state taxes, your requirements will also depend on the legal structure of your business. Many small business owners find comfort in working with a CPA or qualified tax professional. If you feel comfortable enough to prepare your taxes on your own, there are several great filing strategies to maximize credits and deductions that you’ll want to be aware of....

For those considering an investment in bond index funds, Vanguard funds are one of the best choices out there. The company is known for its low expense ratios, which have been shown to be the most important factor in long-term fund performance. It is especially true with respect to bond funds—more so than with stock funds—due to their lower expected returns, and it’s even more important when a low-yield environment restricts bonds’ total return potential....

Below, we’ll discuss common tax credits available for small businesses; explain how to claim the credits; highlight the differences between tax credits and deductions; and answer some frequently asked questions to help optimize your tax filing. Small Business Tax Credits There are a number of tax credits that small businesses could potentially qualify for. Here are a few of the more common options. Paying Family and Medical Leave for Employees You would use Form 8994 to calculate tax credit for providing employees with paid family leave and medical leave for tax years post-2017....

Wire transfers are individual requests, while ACH transfers are handled in batches. Employee payroll checks are often directly deposited using ACH transfers. Wire transfers typically have a fee, while ACH transfers are often free to consumers or have minimal fees. What’s the Difference Between ACH and Wire Transfers? Consider requesting wire transfers first thing in the morning if time is of the essence, so there’s plenty of time to complete the process....

Passively Managed Funds Passively managed funds – also called index funds – invest in a portfolio of bonds designed to match the performance of a particular index, such as the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Index funds simply hold the securities that are in the index, or, in many cases, a representative sample of the index holdings. When the composition of the index changes, so do the fund’s holdings. In this case, the managers of the funds aren’t seeking to produce returns greater than the benchmark – the goal is simply matching its performance....

If you’ve been thinking of adding your home to the site, it could be a smart way to boost your annual income using a property you already own. But hosting on Airbnb doesn’t come without its drawbacks. Before jumping in, make sure you consider the pros and cons of sharing your home—as well as those of sharing on Airbnb specifically. Advantages of Sharing Your Home on Airbnb The added income is probably the biggest perk of listing your home on the Airbnb platform....

Payday Alternative Loans Payday Alternative Loans (PALs), offered exclusively through credit unions, have specific rules that limit the costs you pay and the amount you borrow. For example, application fees are limited to $20 or less. You can borrow between $200 and $1,000, and you have up to six months to repay your loan. Personal Loans Using a personal loan typically allows you to borrow for periods of two to five years, and sometimes as high as seven years....

A new feature named Apple Card Family, coming in May, will let two people co-own an Apple Card so they can share credit line access and both benefit from the track record it establishes. This is the first time Apple Card will allow multiple people to share an account. Parents will also be able to give children 13 or older access to their Apple Card while keeping tabs on their spending and purchases....

Over the past year, qualified individuals received three stimulus checks, and the IRS has issued notices to recipients for each one. Two of them, Notices 1444 and 1444-B, were sent out in 2020, and should be kept with tax year 2020 records. If you received a Notice 1444-A for 2020, you may be eligible for a stimulus payment but need to file a return to claim it. But the last stimulus check, approved last month as part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, would fall under the 2021 tax year and have to be reported next year....

Researchers at the Eviction Lab at Princeton University estimated in a report last week that the original ban prevented 1.55 million evictions from the time it began until it expired in July. They arrived at that number by comparing eviction trends in cities that adopted their own eviction protections and those that didn’t, and analyzing how the statistics changed when the nationwide ban went into effect. The researchers estimated that overall, the federal ban plus state and local eviction protections prevented 2....

Reducing your expenses (cash outflow) is just as beneficial as increasing your revenue (cash inflow). And minimizing taxes in a taxable account has the effect of keeping your expenses low. This increases your net returns. You can think of this in another way: If you’re paying more than necessary in taxes, you take home less money. This means you’ve reduced the return on your investment. Learn how mutual funds are taxed and become familiar with some actions you can take to lower taxes; this is important if you have investments....

andresr/Getty Images If you’re a student or recent graduate, your finance skills will help you get hired for these professions. Read on to learn about some of the top jobs for college graduates with a finance degree. Finance Majors: Skills and Pay Finance majors develop analytical skills in order to dissect financial statements and appraise the financial standing of companies, municipalities, and other entities. They can assess the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of business problems and evaluate the financial implications of corporate and individual actions....

Worst Funds for Taxable Accounts You should first determine the worst funds for taxable accounts. The best way to win in the long run is often to avoid losing in the short term. The quickest way to lose when you’re investing in taxable accounts is by doing so in the types of mutual funds that incur the most in taxes. Interest income and dividends are taxed as ordinary income, just as if you had received pay from a job....

The legislation would make it illegal for private debt collectors to garnish the stimulus payments that came as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), as well as add special coding to any new payments directly deposited to accounts so banks can identify them as not up for garnishment. Those who receive their payments before the bill passes—which is a lot of us—can request that their bank set aside the amount of their stimulus payment as exempt from garnishment....