Microsoft will shutter all of its 83 physical store locations, which have been closed since late March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
— Read on variety.com/2020/digital/news/microsoft-stores-closing-permanently-1234691208/
Dealing with Debt
Managing Debt
Choosing a Credit Counselor
If you’re considering using the services of a credit counseling organization, here’s what you can expect.
Coping with Debt
When it comes to dealing with debt, you have options. Find out what you can do, and get tips for avoiding scams.
Filing for Bankruptcy: What to Know
U.S. bankruptcy law requires credit counseling before you file for bankruptcy and debtor education after you file.
Getting Out of Debt
Here’s what you need to know about getting out of debt.
Paying Down Credit Card Debt
Interest rates and minimum monthly payments affect how long it takes to pay off debt. Use the calculator to help you estimate how long it will take you to pay off your credit card balance.
Settling Credit Card Debt
Read how debt settlement companies work, the program risks, how to research companies, and other options for debt relief.
What to Know Before Selling Your Disability Payments
Before you consider “factoring” — selling part of your disability settlement for quick cash — know what you’re getting yourself into.
Credit Repair
Credit Repair Scams
Companies promising a “new credit identity” may be selling stolen Social Security numbers.
Credit Repair: How to Help Yourself
Find out how you can improve your credit and get free or low-cost help.
Debt Relief
Debt Relief or Bankruptcy?
Some ads that promise debt relief may be offering bankruptcy if you read between the lines.
Tax Relief Companies
If you owe back taxes, try to negotiate with the IRS or your state comptroller on your own. Tax relief companies can’t do anything for you that you can’t do for yourself.
Debt Collection
Debt Collection Arbitration
Learn how debt collection arbitration works and what your rights are.
Debt Collection FAQs
You have rights when you deal with debt collectors.
Debts and Deceased Relatives
Who is responsible for paying off the debts of your deceased relatives?
Fake Debt Collectors
Here’s how to tell if a call is from a legitimate debt collector or a faker.
Garnishing Federal Benefits
You may be able to protect the federal funds in your bank account from being garnished.
Time-Barred Debts
Collectors may not be able to sue you to collect old debts. The statute of limitations varies among states and for different kinds of debts.
Is the Sun Going Down, or Coming Up?
Apple to shut seven retail stores in Houston again as COVID-19 cases jump | Financial Post
Apple Inc is set to shut seven of its retail locations in Houston, Texas again due to an increase in the number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States, the company said Wednesday.
— Read on business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/apple-to-shut-seven-retail-stores-in-houston-again-as-covid-19-cases-jump
Harvard Won’t Require Sat, Act Testing for Admission
Apple’s Diversity Chief Leaves as Companies Vow to Tackle Racism
(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc.’s head of diversity and inclusion Christie Smith is leaving the iPhone company, according to people familiar with the matter.Last week, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said Apple is launching a $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, adding to the company’s response to the police killing of George Floyd last month. Earlier this month, Cook wrote in a letter to employees and customers that society needs to do more to push equality, particularly for Black people.“To create change, we have to reexamine our own views and actions in light of a pain that is deeply felt but too often ignored. Issues of human dignity will not abide standing on the sidelines,” Cook wrote in the letter.Smith joined Apple in 2017 after 16 years at consultancy Deloitte. Unlike her predecessor, who reported directly to the CEO, Smith reported to Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail and People Deirdre O’Brien.“Inclusion and diversity are core Apple values and we deeply believe the most diverse teams are the most innovative teams,” Apple said in an emailed statement confirming the news. “Christie Smith will be leaving Apple to spend more time with her family and we wish her well. Our Inclusion and Diversity team continues to report directly to Deirdre O’Brien on the Executive Team.”Apple said the move was planned two months ago, though a person familiar with the matter said Smith’s last day was Tuesday.Read more: A Black Money Manager Speaks Out on Workplace Race ConversationsThe Cupertino, California-based company has made little progress in increasing the diversity among its overall workforce since it began releasing data in 2014. According to its 2018 diversity report, 67% of global employees were male, down from 70% in 2014. In the U.S., 6% of tech employees were Black in 2018, unchanged from 2014.Apple hasn’t disclosed its most recent diversity numbers yet, but the company has made some headway in recent years increasing diversity among new hires. More than half of new hires in the U.S. in 2018 were Black, Hispanic or from other historically underrepresented groups in tech. Women accounted for 38% of Apple’s workforce under the age of 30, compared to 33% of the its overall staff.(Updates with Apple diversity numbers from seventh paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
— Read on finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-diversity-chief-leaves-tech-032144722.html
How Is Credit Card Interest Calculated?
The interest you pay depends on your APR and your balance; avoid interest entirely by paying your bill in full.Melissa LambarenaMay 18, 2020
If your credit card has an annual percentage rate of, say, 18%, that doesn’t mean you get charged 18% interest once a year. Depending on how you manage your account, your effective interest rate could be higher, or it could be lower. It could even be 0%. That’s because interest is calculated on a daily basis, not annually, and is charged only if you carry debt from month to month.
Knowing how credit card issuers calculate interest can help you understand the true cost of your debt.
» MORE: Credit card APR vs. interest rate
How to calculate credit card interest
Calculating credit card interest is a three-step process. The video above walks you through that process in detail, but here’s a general overview of how it works. If you want to follow along, grab your credit card billing statement. You’ll need some information from it.
1. CONVERT ANNUAL RATE TO DAILY RATE
Your interest rate is identified on your statement as the annual percentage rate, or APR.
Since interest is calculated on a daily basis, you’ll need to convert the APR to a daily rate. Do that by dividing by 365. Some banks divide by 360; for our purposes, the difference isn’t worth worrying about, as it changes the outcome by only a hair. The result is called the periodic interest rate, or sometimes the daily periodic rate.
» MORE: Does your credit card’s interest rate matter?
2. DETERMINE YOUR AVERAGE DAILY BALANCE
Your statement will tell you which days are included in the billing period. Your interest charge depends on your balance on each of those days.
You start with your unpaid balance — the amount carried over from the previous month. When you make a purchase, the balance goes up; when you make a payment, it goes down. Using the transaction information on your statement, go through the billing period, day by day, and write down each day’s balance.
Once you’ve got that done, add up all the daily balances and then divide by the number of days in the billing period. The result is your average daily balance.
3. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
The final step is to multiply your average daily balance by your daily rate, and then multiply that result by the number of days in the billing period.
Depending on whether your issuer compounds interest daily or monthly, your actual interest charge might differ slightly from this calculated amount. Compounding is the process of adding the accrued interest into your unpaid balance, so that you are paying interest on interest.
Compounding is the reason you could pay more than your APR in interest. For example, say your average daily balance was exactly $1,000 for the entire year. If the bank had an 18% interest charge just once at the end of the year, you’d pay $180. But since your interest compounds, you’d actually be the hook for something closer to $195.
» MORE: What happens if I make only the minimum payment?https://www.youtube.com/embed/BoyrMi7pNSo?rel=0&showinfo=1&color=white
How does credit card interest work?
Credit card issuers charge interest on purchases only if you carry a balance from one month to the next. If you pay your balance in full every month, your interest rate is irrelevant, because you don’t get charged interest at all. Obviously, paying in full is the most cost-effective way to go, but if you usually carry a balance, a low-interest credit card can save you money on interest.
Seeing the calculation in action points you to a quick way to reduce your interest charges: Pay twice a month, or more frequently, rather than once. That extra payment will shrink your average daily balance and, in turn, your interest. Say you have a $2,000 balance and will have $1,000 to put toward your credit card bill. If you paid $1,000 on the 20th day of a 30-day billing period, your average daily balance would be about $1,633. But if you paid $500 on Day 10 and $500 on Day 20, your average daily balance would be $1,467. You’d reduce your interest charge by about 10%.
Depending on your card, you might have different APRs for different kinds of transactions, such as purchases, balance transfers and cash advances.
How do card issuers determine interest rates?
Some credit cards have a single purchase APR for all customers. Others have a range — for example, 13% to 23% — and your specific rate depends on your creditworthiness. The better your credit, the lower your rate. The rates and ranges themselves are usually tied to the prime rate, which is the interest rate banks charge their biggest customers. When the prime rate goes up, credit card rates typically follow with an equal increase.
The type of credit card can also influence the APR. Rewards credit cards tend to come with higher interest rates.
» MORE: How to negotiate a lower credit card rate
How can I lower my credit card’s interest rate?
You have control over some of the factors that determine your credit card’s interest rate. A better credit score gets you better credit card options. And if your score has improved significantly, you can try asking the issuer for a lower rate. But regardless of the stated APR on your card, you can reduce the effective rate several ways:
- Pay your bill in full every month, if possible, to avoid interest.
- Make more than the minimum payment if you can’t pay your bill in full.
- Make payments more than once a month to shrink your average daily balance.
Now that you understand how it all works, you’re in a better position to take charge of your interest.About the author: Melissa Lambarena is a credit cards writer at NerdWallet. Her work has been featured by The Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today. Read more
Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8)
Because All Americans Deserve Shelter!!!
Program
Description
The housing choice voucher program provides assistance to very low-income families to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing. Housing can include single-family homes, townhouses and apartments and is not limited to units located in subsidized housing projects. Housing choice vouchers are administered locally by Public Housing Agencies (PHAs). A family that is issued a housing voucher is responsible for finding a suitable housing unit of the family’s choice where the owner agrees to rent under the program. A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the PHA on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program.
ProgramRequirements
Housing Choice is limited to low or very low-income families and individuals, eligibility is based on annual gross income. To qualify for this program, you must be in need of decent, safe, and/or sanitary housing.Check if you may be eligible for this benefit
ApplicationProcess
If you are interested in applying for a voucher, contact the local PHA:
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/pha/contacts
ContactInformation
For further assistance, visit the following website and click on “Local Offices”, located on the left side of the page:
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/states
For additional information, please contact the Public and Indian Housing (PIH) Customer Service Center at:
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/about/css
Or you may call us at 1-800-955-2232, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST) daily, Monday through Friday.
Visit:
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/about/fact_sheet
Just When You Thought We Were Done Talking About All-Time Lows
Mortgage rates plunged well into new all-time lows this week, which is a striking turn of events given the vastly different outlook at the end of last week.
Specifically, a series of strong economic reports led to significant losses in the bond market (bond losses = higher rates) and gains in stocks. The unspoken warning was that rates had been too complacent in the face of a potential economic rebound.
Now this week, markets are singing a different tune. Recently strong economic data was great to see, but with coronavirus numbers spiking in several states, the sustainability of the economic improvement is in question.
Sentiment shifted on both sides of the market with stocks giving signals that their recent gains may have been a bit too euphoric. The result was the biggest sell-off since March.
Conversely, the bond market had its best week since March, and again, when the bond market is doing well, rates are falling. The 10yr Treasury yield moved all the way back into the range it had so abruptly departed last week.
The news was even better for mortgage rates, which hit new all-time lows by Thursday afternoon. Considering the chart above shows gradual upward movement in 10yr Treasury yields over the past few months, how is it that mortgage rates continue hitting record lows?
Simply put, mortgages never improved as quickly as Treasuries on the way down. So even if Treasury yields remain flat to slightly higher, mortgage rates have some room left to close some of this gap.
The mortgage market received another vote of confidence this week from the Fed. Although the Fed was already buying huge amounts of Treasuries and mortgage-backed bonds, they were doing so on an “emergency” basis. That meant the amount had been changing every week (and generally declining). The fewer bonds purchased by the Fed, the worse it could be for rates.
With this week’s announcement, the Fed officially committed to buy at least as much as they have been buying, thus providing certainty about demand in the bond market. This move wasn’t necessarily unexpected, but the confirmation was worth something–especially for the mortgage bond market which tends to play second fiddle to Treasuries as far as the Fed is concerned.
In separate news, the Fed also released a quarterly update to its economic forecasts. They now see the Fed Funds Rate remaining at 0% through 2022. At first glance, some mortgage shoppers might think this has a bearing on mortgage rates, but it is almost completely unrelated.
The Fed Funds Rate applies to overnight loans between large financial institutions. Mortgage rates are based on mortgage-backed bonds which tend to have life spans measured in years instead of hours. The low Fed Funds Rate will keep the shortest-term rates near 0%, but longer-term rates will continue to fluctuate based on the economic outlook, inflation, and the supply/demand equation (which is greatly benefited by the Fed’s bond buying commitment).
As for the road ahead, everyone would like to know if we’ll continue deeper into all-time low mortgage rates. After all, the answer to that question looked very different last week.
Notably, the x-factor was a shift in the coronavirus narrative. As states gradually reopen, it’s safe to assume that markets will continue to take major cues from covid-19 numbers and the resulting impact on the economy. The better it goes, the more upward pressure we might see on rates. The worse it goes, the greater the possibility of a return to all-time lows.
There is an important caveat here. The benefit of waiting to lock a rate for those in a position to do so is arguably too small to take the risk. Each time we hit all-time lows, the incremental improvements get smaller and smaller, and the risks increase for a bigger-picture bounce.
Mortgage Rates At Record Low
10 Steps for Building Your Business Credit Rating
Like personal credit, it’s important to regularly monitor your business credit. Having a business solid score can help you in a number of ways, including:
- Obtaining a business loan or line of credit more easily and with better terms;
- Convincing suppliers to extend business credit and/or offer you better payment terms; and
- Boosting your business’ reputation with potential partners, vendors, and suppliers.
You should begin building your business credit rating as soon as your business is up and running. And if you’re already going, it’s never too late to start. Here are some ways to do it.
1. Consider Incorporating or Forming a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)
If your business is a sole proprietorship, it may be harder to keep your business and personal finances separate. Building business credit is one reason why forming an LLC or corporation could be the right structure for your business. A Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) combines the limited liability of corporations with certain tax benefits.
2. Obtain Your Employee Identification Number (EIN)
Get an EIN for your business. This 9-digit number, like a Social Security number for businesses, is assigned by the IRS. Having an EIN number can make it easier to open a bank account or secure funding from lenders.
3. Separate Business and Personal Funds
It’s a best practice to operate your business as a separate financial entity. Opening a business bank account and keeping personal and business funds separate not only provides an opportunity to build business credit, but it can also simplify tax preparation.
4. Separate Business and Personal Credit
Business loans—in addition to helping keep your personal and business finances separate—can help build your business credit as well as categorize and track expenses.
5. Pay Your Bills on Time
Paying all of your debts on time—including payments to utility companies, vendors, landlords, credit-line payments, and business credit card companies—is critical to building a strong business credit rating.
6. Have More Credit Available Before You Need It
Consider how much available credit you want on-hand as a financial cushion if you run into a cash flow crunch. If you have more credit available than you need, and keep your utilization across each line of credit to less than 30% you’ll gradually build your business credit rating.
7. Get a Business Loan to Help Manage Cash Flow and Expansion Goals
Business loans and lines of credit are powerful tools for funding necessary expenses, including hiring, marketing, or covering unexpected emergencies. They also enable you to grow your business without relying on high-interest credit cards. They’re a great way to build your business credit rating.
8. Verify Your Information
Make sure the three major business credit reporting agencies have complete and accurate information on your business, including your EIN. Keep them updated on any changes to your business, such as a new address or contact information. Quickbooks Capital partnered with a leading agency, Dun & Bradstreet to provide a free business credit score to to help Quickbooks customers get a better handle on their score.
9. Be Sure Your Creditors Are Reporting Your Payments to the Business Credit Bureaus
Not all companies report payments to the business credit bureaus. Therefore, you may have to ask your vendors directly to do this on your behalf. Quickbooks Capital reports to the agencies to help customers build their credit score.
10. Check Your Business Credit Report Regularly
Once a quarter, check your business credit report and your business credit rating with each of the three credit bureaus. If you spot any errors or inaccuracies, take steps to correct them. You’ll also be able to see if your credit rating is declining for legitimate reasons, such as late payments or overused credit, and take steps to change that behavior. If you’re a Quickbooks Capital customer, you may already have access to a free score provided to our customers by Dun & Bradstreet.
A strong credit rating is critical for small business. Taking these long- and short-term steps can help you have more and better options available when you decide to seek additional funding for your business.
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