Personal Finance
Key takeaways As long as you don’t use your available credit to run up high balances, a lot of available credit won’t hurt your credit score. Available credit can even improve your credit utilization, which accounts for 30 percent of your credit score. Some issuers may cap the amount of…
Key takeaways Active-duty military members are eligible for VA home loans after serving for 90 straight days (181 days during peacetime) without an interruption in service. You or your spouse and dependents have to reside in your home as a primary residence for 12 consecutive months, but if you’re deployed…
It’s an uneventful weekday, and you’re running a few errands during your lunch break. You decide at the last minute to run inside the bank to finally deposit that paper check you’ve had in your pocket for the past month, as well as review your checking account balance and perhaps…
Key takeaways Buying a home in another state involves a significant time investment that can be as long as several months. Researching affordability, neighborhoods, tax rates and local real estate laws is an important part of the process. Finding a trustworthy local real estate agent, particularly one who specializes in…
Key takeaways Uniformed service members and federal employees can borrow against their retirement plans with a TSP loan. You can borrow a minimum of $1,000. You can borrow a TSP loan for general purposes, and you can use funds to construct or close on a home. TSP loans come with…
Credit cards can be a convenient way to pay taxes while potentially earning some rewards along the way. Paying taxes with a credit card could also give you some breathing room if you don’t have the funds to pay your taxes by the due date. Still, there’s one major hurdle…
Most of us don’t think much about our tax withholding until tax time. That’s when reality sets in — in the form of a big tax bill or a tax refund. When you file your tax return, you discover whether more than enough money is being withheld from your paychecks…
martin-dm/ E+/ Getty Images Travel reward credit cards and 0 percent introductory APRs on purchases and balance transfers don’t often co-exist. Having travel rewards and 0 percent APR are incredible perks on their own, but when you combine the two, you have a credit card with potential for substantial savings…
PeopleImages.com – Yuri A / Shutterstock.comAdvertising Disclosure: When you buy something by clicking links within this article, we may earn a small commission, but it never affects the products or services we recommend. Weekends are supposed to be about relaxing, not ruining your budget. However, those quiet days off often…
Elnur / Shutterstock.comAdvertising Disclosure: When you buy something by clicking links within this article, we may earn a small commission, but it never affects the products or services we recommend. There are many ways to get ahead financially. Some are familiar. Others are less obvious. Whether you aim to reduce…
