What Is a Real Estate Deposit Receipt?

What Is a Real Estate Deposit Receipt? Key Takeaways A deposit receipt is a record that a buyer paid an earnest money deposit. It is most commonly used in conjunction with real estate. The receipt is essential to prove that the buyer deposited the funds. Funds must come from the buyer’s resources.   Definition and … Read more

Banking: Maximizing Today’s Banking Options

Understanding the Underbanked Population The term “underbanked” refers to individuals or segments of society who, despite having an account with a financial institution, rely heavily on expensive non-bank sources of financial services. These sources include wire-transfer or check-cashing services, title loans, and payday loans. Instead of using traditional banking services such as debit and credit … Read more

Which of Your Assets Are Subject to Probate?

Probate assets are anything owned by a deceased person that has no way of passing to a living beneficiary without a court-supervised probate process. Life insurance proceeds, bank accounts with payable-on-death designations, some retirement accounts, and some forms of real estate ownership pass directly to named beneficiaries by operation of law, so probate isn’t required … Read more

Understanding the Crude Oil Market

Crude oil is a fundamental source of energy for the world’s economy. Besides being one of the most actively traded commodities, the price of crude oil is extremely sensitive to geopolitical and weather events. The world crude oil market is all about investor anticipation of supply and demand, and oil prices are very volatile and … Read more

How US Treasury Yields Affect the Economy

Treasury yields are the total amount of money you earn by owning US Treasury bills, notes, bonds, or inflation-protected securities. The US Department of the Treasury sells them to pay for the US debt. It’s crucial to remember that yields go down when there is a lot of demand for the bonds. Yields move in … Read more

Fannie Mae vs. Freddie Mac

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are two entities established by the government to boost the housing market. Fannie Mae stands for the Federal National Mortgage Association. Freddie Mac is the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. These organizations are not only different in their genesis, but also in their target market and products. For example, Fannie … Read more

How To Choose the Right Real Estate Location

Looking to buy a new home but not sure exactly where you want to move? As you start your search, you’ll find that prices vary greatly from one place to another—and can even be drastically different just one neighborhood over. Learn the key factors that affect real estate prices and how to find the right … Read more

How to Calculate the Value of Your Estate

Estate valuation is the process of calculating an estate’s value for federal and state estate tax purposes. It’s a major component in determining whether an estate is liable for the tax, and it can be a valuable tool in estate planning as well. You can take steps during your lifetime to avoid estate tax, or … Read more

What Is a Comdex Ranking?

What Is a Comdex Ranking? Main Points A Comdex ranking is a composite score averaging the ratings of the major insurance rating organizations. The range for Comdex rankings is from 1 to 100. Higher scores are better. Financial strength ratings, such as the Comdex ranking, are like your insurance company’s report card. They help you … Read more