Amy Beardsley

You can’t buy a standard homeowners insurance policy if you live in a condo or cooperative apartment (co-op). Because you own the living space, renters insurance isn’t enough, either. When you share a building structure, insurance gets more complicated.
What you need is co-op insurance. Many people buy a condo or co-op before understanding the type of insurance they need or how co-op insurance works.

Life Insurance is a great way to create a financial safety net for those who rely on you. It is not uncommon to pay over the course of decades, so understanding the cost of your policy, and how it is calculated is important. Determining the cost of a policy is different for everyone, but the factors that affect the price include the amount of coverage and how long it lasts, age, gender, health and hobbies.

Life insurance should never be one-size-fits-all. Your best option for life insurance is when you can customize your death benefit to match your needs. That’s why personal finance experts have long recommended “policy stacking.” With policy stacking, your life insurance policy is “stacked” to provide the highest payout when you need it most. As time goes on and your financial goals change, your coverage changes with you. With a term policy that’s built to your needs, you can save you money over the long run, which leaves more cash for other financial priorities.

An inheritance is what you receive as a beneficiary after someone you care about has passed away. Most of the time, you inherit cash from a bank account or personal belongings. It can also include real estate and other items, and the value can range from a few hundred dollars to millions of dollars. You might have to pay taxes on the cash or property you receive, so you must understand how inheritance works.

If you don’t have a will, you’re probably wondering how much estate planning costs. Looking for legal help isn’t like shopping for new shoes where prices are published and you can compare easily.

Estate planning doesn’t have to be expensive.

Some of the simplest inventions have made millions. If you have a great idea, a patent can protect your work from being reproduced while you secure funding, production or sales for your invention.

Got an outstanding tax bill? You might benefit from a payment plan. The IRS has short-term and long-term plans available, which can help if you can’t pay your balance in full.
There’s another benefit: With a payment plan, the IRS usually doesn’t start a collection action. That means you can avoid wage garnishment or tax liens on bank accounts or property.

The IRS, like the Wizard of Oz, is great and powerful. But what happens if you take a peek behind the curtain? You’d see that their power has limits. It’s called the IRS statute of limitations. But what does that mean? A statute of limitations on IRS debt means the IRS can’t try to collect their money forever.

Asset management is when you hire a financial institution, such as an investment firm or a bank, to direct and manage your investments. Asset management can serve many purposes for individuals and corporations. A primary goal of putting your assets in the hands of someone else is to gain the advantage of their industry expertise. Asset managers can specialize in certain types of capital, and your risk tolerance and objectives can guide the strategies they put into place.

The terms residual income and passive income are often used interchangeably. However, the terms can mean very different things depending on whether you’re referencing a business environment or talking about an individual’s finances. In the corporate world, residual income is a measure of profit after the company pays all costs of capital. Personal residual income is what you have left after you pay your expenses and debts.

Applying for a credit card is simple but getting approved isn’t so easy. To increase your chances of being approved, we present the best tips from top credit experts on what not to do when applying for a new credit card.

With the recent volatility, 2018 saw the biggest drop since the Great Depression. When prices start to fall, it could be a simple correction or the start of a bear market. How do you know if you should be worried?

Term life insurance is a financial product that can protect families if someone passes away. The premiums stay the same for the specific term which makes it easy for families to budget. An insurance broker can provide term life insurance quotes.

While it’s sometimes thought that trusts are only for the wealthy, a living trust can be useful and serve as a practical tool for the rest of us, too. But what is a living trust? And how do you know if you need a living trust as part of your estate plan?

Generally, estate planning starts with a will, though it can also include a power of attorney, which are the two most fundamental of all estate planning documents.

When it comes to student debt, more than half of borrowers are struggling to make their payments. Refinancing your student loan is an excellent option to lower your monthly bill or to pay less interest over the life of your loan.

Even though refinancing could make student loan debt more manageable, the latest survey by Student Loan Planner found that 85% of borrowers are afraid to refinance their student loans. Why do borrowers fear refinancing when it could save them thousands of dollars?