A liability is anything that an individual or organization owes to someone else. Liabilities can be salaries owed to employees, dividends owed to shareholders, taxes owed to the government, fixed or long-term debt such as bonds (which must be repaid with interest to the holder) or bank loans (which must be repaid with interest to the bank). Liabilities are the opposite of assets.
Archive for the ‘Spend Page’ Category
A Liability is…
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010Monetary Policy is…
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010Monetary policy is a plan of action that a Central Bank (like the Federal Reserve) sets in order to keep an economy stable. It’s really important to the overall health of a nation’s finances. The goal is to manage demand by manipulating a company’s money supply and tweaking interest rates.
Central Banks implement monetary policy using a few different methods:
- Open-Market Operations – Directly buying and selling securities in the open market
- Reserve Requirements – Setting regulations that dictate the minimum amount of money a bank must hold in reserve to back up its deposits
- Discount Rate – Changing the rate of interest banks charge other banks to borrow money
A W-2 is…
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010A W-2 is a tax form that your employer gives you to help you fill out your federal tax return correctly. Basically, the form adds up all your wages and tips from that particular job. Every employer is required to send you a W-2 before the national tax filing deadline.
But the W-2 isn’t the whole story. If you’ve made money some other way – by working as an independent consultant, for example, or by collecting earnings on your investments, you’ll have to add up and report that income by yourself.
Loan-Linked Debit Cards Sidestep College Credit Card Law
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010The CARD Act of 2009 has barely been in place for a month, but companies are already turning a profit with a variation on the theme…
- A company called Higher One has figured out how to make money on college students using plastic, despite recent regulations designed to keep credit card companies from preying on the under-21 population. And they’re not the only ones finding loopholes in the new regulations: PNC Bank has been encouraging schools to market PNC’s products to students on campus, since PNC is now barred from doing so itself.
- With the cooperation of school administrators, Higher One links student loan accounts to debit cards, allowing students to spend their financial aid funds anywhere with a single swipe. The cards are accepted anywhere MasterCard is, and they’re often branded with the school’s emblem.
- Though participating colleges say the card program makes accessing financial aid easier for students, many students are not convinced. The cards come with all sorts of fees, and the way the program is pushed by schools makes it look suspicious. Some schools use the cards as substitutes for student IDs, requiring everyone on campus to have one even if they don’t have a HigherOne account.
Facts & Figures
- The penalty for not using your Higher One debit card for 9 months is $19 per month.
- Other fees include $2.50 for ATM transactions with other banks and $0.50 per transaction made as “debit” (entering a PIN) rather than “credit” (signing a receipt).
- 675 colleges in the U.S. participate in Higher One’s debit card program.
- Higher One’s sales in the 3rd quarter of 2010 were $27 million.
“The [Higher One] Refund Card mailing may look like an unwanted credit card offer. PLEASE DO NOT DISCARD IT.” – From the website of the University of Maryland at Baltimore
DailyCandy Editor Lauren Lumsden On Discovering New And Cool
Monday, October 4th, 2010It’s not every day you get to interview an editor from your favorite daily mailing list, but we somehow convinced Lauren to chat in front of our camera last week. Check out her interview to learn about the dude-ranch-to-web-editor career track and, of course, Bacon Salt.
>>TILE brings you exclusive interviews from people doing great things in SPEND, GROW, and GIVE. To view more, click on TILEcasts in the TILE Library.
Have a burning question or someone you’d like to see interviewed? Let us know – just Ask TILE!
Your Friend Can Now Lend You $20 Using A Credit Card
Friday, October 1st, 2010Is this the end of the entire credit card business model as we know it??
- A new company called Square is blowing the minds of credit card company executives everywhere. Square produces a little gadget that plugs into the headphone jacks of a variety of iThings and the Android phone. That’s where things get crazy.
- The free device allows anybody with a bank account to accept credit card payments in person or over the phone.
- Usually, only businesses accept credit cards. They have to purchase expensive equipment and then pay fee after fee just for the ability to process credit payments. Square Up changes that, eliminating equipment, setup, and maintenance fees.
Facts & Figures
- Square’s chief executive is the co-founder of Twitter.
- Each time you process a payment using Square Up, the company keeps 2.75% of the transaction amount, plus $0.15.
- At first, transactions are capped at $1,000, but that cap can be raised over time or for established businesses.
Kids Get A Say In Where They Hang Their Hats
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010They have to live there, too.
- Real estate brokers are seeing an increase in clients under the age of 18, as more parents try to involve their kids in the decision of where to live.
- Sometimes the goal is to teach the kids how real estate works, sometimes it’s a way to make them feel more involved in a big family change, and sometimes it’s just practical to have another person helping to make the final decision.
- The 9- and 14-year-old daughters of a Manhattan apartment hunter were instrumental in pointing out flaws: the dining room wouldn’t fit a table for homework, the oven wouldn’t fit a Thanksgiving turkey, the layout wouldn’t allow for enough privacy.
Facts & Figures
- Frances Katzen, a broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman, recently showed a $3.1 million dollar apartment to two children, aged 11 and 12, who came without their parents.
- Another agent working for CORE showed an apartment to a client and his 15- and 18-year-old children, who seemed to be along for a lesson in finance.
Best Quote
“At first I thought it was going to be boring. Then I thought it was fun to fit everything in.” – Julia Paris, 14-year-old house hunter
When The Economy Hurts, Allowances Suffer, Too
Monday, September 20th, 2010Grown-ups aren’t the only ones feeling the global recession…
- Research shows that the average weekly allowance for kids aged 8 – 15 in the UK has fallen since 2009. This is the first time that the average allowance has fallen below £6 since 2003.
- The study also showed differences in allowance based on gender (boys scored 40 pence more than girls each week) and location (children from Wales made more than children in London, who made way more than children in the South West of England).
- Despite the cutback, British children are still saving almost 37% of their pocket money every week!
Facts & Figures
- In 2005, allowances peaked at about £8.37 per week, in 2009, the average was £6.24, and in 2010 it was down to £5.89
- Welsh kids take in £7.77 per week; children in the South West of England make £5.05
- Londoners saw the biggest loss this year – their allowances went down by almost £4 a week
Best Quote
“It is encouraging to see that children are still saving, despite the amount of pocket money falling.” – Flavia Palacios Umana, Head of Savings Products at Halifax
‘Made In Italy’ By Chinese Workers, With Chinese Materials
Monday, September 13th, 2010Times are changing in Europe, and Italy is struggling to maintain the integrity and marketability of its high-end fashion brand while dealing with an influx of legal and illegal immigrants from China.
- The city of Prato in Tuscany has always been known for its quality textile production, but recently the industry has been taken over by Chinese companies known to use illegal labor and imported materials to feed a new low-end, “fast fashion” industry.
- Part of the immigrants’ success in exploiting the local economy involves clever maneuvering around Italian laws and regulations. Companies operating in a “gray market” are not technically breaking any laws – they comply with most regulations – but neither are thy upholding the spirit of the laws. For example, a textile producer may refuse to inquire into whether his subcontractors use illegal labor.
- The issue is sensitive in Italy, where immigration is a controversial and emotional subject. Some believe the situation in Prato is an intentional attempt at economic colonization by the Chinese government.
Facts & Figures
- Since 2001, half of Italian-owned textile businesses in Prato have been replaced by Chinese-owned textile businesses.
- Prato represents 27% of all Italian fabric imports from China.
- Approximately $1.5 million a day is directed from immigrants in Prato back to China, though it seems that much of that money is not being claimed on tax forms.
- Prato is home to about 25,000 mostly Chinese illegal immigrants.
Best Quote
“The Chinese are very clever. They’re not like other immigrants, who can be pretty thick. The difficulty is in finding a shared understanding of the rules of the game.” – Riccardo Marini, Head of the Prato branch of Confindustria, the organization of Italian industrialists
More Men Wearing Makeup
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010In the old days, men used wax and powder to perfect their complexions. But today’s man is going for something a little more understated…
- Despite a social norm that categorizes makeup as “for women only,” men are becoming more comfortable shopping for concealers, tinted moisturizers, and specialized cleansers and lotions.
- Instead of playing up their features to enhance beauty the way women do, men are mostly interested in hiding dark under-eye circles and evening out their complexions.
- There are many new cosmetics companies specifically targeting men, though some customers are confident enough to shop at Sephora or other woman-centric beauty shops. The term “makeup” still has an effeminate stigma, so retailers and customers tend to refer to men’s beauty products as “cosmetics.”
Facts & Figures
- In 1997, Americans spent $2.4 billion on men’s grooming products; in 2009, that number rose to $4.8 billion.
- In skin care alone, sales rose from $40.9 million to $217 million in the same period.
- 4Voo sells “Confidence Corrector” for $34, and “Lash and Brow Styling Glaze” for $23. KenMen sells “guy-liner” for $22, and tinted lip balm for $25.
Best Quote
“There is a little bit of that stealth makeup thing going on, where you’re not slapping foundation onto your face but as part of your other routines — it sort of creeps in.” – Jason Chen, Grooming Editor at GQ