Have you ever wondered exactly what those initials after a financial professional’s name mean? You’re definitely not alone. The easy way to tell is to visit the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority , which provides a list of professional designations and what they mean. Below, we’ve created a short list of some of the frequently used designations and what they mean. AAMS – Accredited Asset Management Specialist – AAMS designation is considered an industry benchmark specifically...
If you’re currently considering purchasing investment property, there are an equal measure of risks and rewards. Like any investment, risk can be managed, but you want to be aware of the risks prior to investing in property. And like any investment, there can be rewards, some quite large. The following is a breakdown of both the risks and the rewards of purchasing investment property: Risks: If you’re purchasing investment property to serve as a rental...
If you’re looking to diversify your investment portfolio, you may want to consider purchasing investment property. Depending on how hands-on you want to be, you may want to purchase real estate as a short-term investment; fixing up the property and then selling it immediately for profit. For a long-term investment, rental property can provide a steady income stream over the longer term. If you’re considering purchasing real estate as an investment, here are a few...
Whether you like it or not, your credit score can determine how easy or how difficult it is to buy a car, buy a house, get cell phone service, or even get a job. A bad credit score can negatively impact just about every area of your life. Sometimes, a bad credit score can result from events entirely out of your control such as illness, disability, or from the loss of a job. Other times a poor credit score results from poor decisions, such as late or missed payments or overuse of credit cards. But there are ways to help you get back on track and raise your credit score.
We all have our own unique relationship with money. We certainly have our own unique way of both spending and saving money. However, if you’re ready to start putting some money aside, or looking for tips on money management, or even the best way to pay your bills, the following tips may provide a little bit of help:
We all have our own unique way of handling our finances. While some of us are natural born savers, others may have a hard time making it to the next paycheck. Fortunately, most of us fall somewhere in-between, putting away money at times, while making frivolous purchases at other times.
Most consumers typically have both a credit card and a debit card. Of course, the biggest difference between the two is that a debit card will immediately take money out of your bank account when used, unlike a credit card, which will pay for the purchase and later add the amount of the transaction to your monthly statement.
How to Avoid Retirement Woes According to the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the top concern of retirees is running out of money. While it’s a known fact that many of us don’t begin to save for retirement when we should, it appears that nearly half of all current retirees are concerned about outliving their retirement funds. However, there are some things you can do now to help mitigate the very real risk of outliving...
There are many ways that we support our favorite charitable causes. However, one of the most beneficial ways to support a favorite charity now and into perpetuity is through planned giving. While almost any larger nonprofit organization has an active planned giving program, it may come as a surprise that many smaller nonprofits are also eager to work with their donors on planned giving options.
Data breaches, once a fairly rare occurrence, have become more frequent as hackers become more skilled in their ability to extract personal data from popular social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. And while we commonly hear about breaches from these large, global organizations, it’s important to remember that small businesses are just as likely to experience a data breach, meaning your information that is stored at you CPA’s office, your attorney’s office, or your local medical center can be vulnerable to a breach at any time.
The American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA) recently published a list of personal finance trends that we should all be concerned about. These trends highlight the fact that almost 63 percent of Americans today are unable to pass a basic financial literacy test.
More than 60 million Americans had their identities stolen in 2018, a significant increase from 2015, where more than 15 million consumers were affected. With identity theft numbers on the rise, it certainly doesn’t appear likely that scammers are going away anytime soon. While there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to preventing identity theft, there are some things you can do to make it more difficult for scammers to obtain your...
