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1 month ago | 
bankrate.com | Kacie Goff |Kenneth Chavis IV |Laurie Richards
Refinancing a mortgage temporarily lowers your credit score. Refinancing can affect your credit score for up to one year while remaining on your credit report for up to two years. To best protect your credit, continue to make timely payments on your accounts and comparison shop within a 45-day window to limit the number of hard credit checks on your credit report.
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | Mia Taylor |Kellye Guinan |Kenneth Chavis IV
Lease acquisition fees typically range from $600 to over $1,000. The acquisition fee will likely be higher when you lease a more expensive vehicle. The acquisition fee can either be paid upfront or bundled into the monthly payments on your lease. An acquisition fee is a fee you pay when leasing a car or other types of vehicles. It may also be referred to as the assignment, administrative, or origination fee.
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | Mia Taylor |Michele Petry |Kenneth Chavis IV
The IRS offers various tax breaks for homeowners that can help lessen the financial burden associated with homeownership. Common tax breaks available to homeowners include a mortgage interest deduction and a property tax deduction. Homeowners must be able to prove they qualify for any tax credit or deduction. Buying a home can be a good way to build wealth, but that doesn’t mean managing a mortgage is easy.
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | Kacie Goff |Varo Money |Elizabeth Rivelli |Kenneth Chavis IV
A fixed-rate mortgage has a consistent interest rate and a predictable monthly payment throughout its entire term. Most mortgages in the U.S. are fixed-rate mortgages. Within the category of fixed-rate loans, there are multiple options, including conventional and government-backed loans. What is a fixed-rate mortgage? A fixed-rate mortgage has an interest rate that remains constant throughout the entire loan period, or term.
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | Marlese Lessing |Kenneth Chavis IV |Rob Watts
Nobody likes getting an audit notice in the mail, which is why it’s critical to complete your business taxes in a thorough, correct and timely manner. Unfortunately, it’s easy to get tangled in the details of tax code and feel overwhelmed by all the ins and outs of your paperwork. This stress can lead to mistakes, and those mistakes can cause you to miss out on deductions, miscalculate how much you owe the IRS or even land your employees in trouble.
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Feb 14, 2025 | 
bankrate.com | Kemberley Washington |Kenneth Chavis IV |Erin Kennedy
If you received a windfall from a loved one, you may wonder whether you need to pay an inheritance tax on your distribution. “An inheritance tax is often used synonymously with estate tax. There’s a big difference. Estate tax applies to the entire estate of the deceased. Inheritance tax applies to the assets that a beneficiary receives from the estate,” says Mac Gardner, CFP®, founder of Finlittech.com in Tampa, Florida. The great news is that the federal government doesn’t charge an inheritance tax.
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Feb 10, 2025 | 
bankrate.com | Karen Bennett |Marc A. Wojno |Kenneth Chavis IV
Most people view budgeting as a major chore, but money management truly becomes easier when you have a strong plan in place for spending and saving. In recent years, tools such as digital apps have emerged to help simplify the budgeting process — and now, artificial intelligence (AI) technology can even assist with budgeting, in the form of chatbots such as ChatGPT.
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Feb 5, 2025 | 
bankrate.com | James Royal |Brian Beers |Kenneth Chavis IV |Brian Baker
If you’ve been watching reruns of HGTV’s “Income Property” and wondering if it’s time to buy an investment property and become a landlord, you’re not alone. Between a jump in inflation and the mood of millennials to rent instead of own, buying rental property has been on an uptick in recent years. Should you take the plunge on a rental property? Experts offer a qualified yes, provided you do your homework first. Here are 10 things to consider before diving into an investment property.
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Jan 30, 2025 | 
bankrate.com | James Royal |Troy Segal |Kenneth Chavis IV
Written by Edited by Reviewed by How is this page expert verified? At Bankrate, we take the accuracy of our content seriously. “Expert verified” means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced. Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content.
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Jan 17, 2025 | 
bankrate.com | Matthew Goldberg |Cindy Perman |Kenneth Chavis IV |Lena Borrelli
Online banks usually carry the same FDIC insurance as traditional banks. Because they don't carry the operating expenses of traditional banks, online banks can offer more competitive APYs and better rewards. Look for online banks with features that protect your data, such as multi-factor authentication, encryption, fraud monitoring and automatic sign-out.
