Clear takes on trading, saving, borrowing and the markets — written to help you make better calls with your money.
This week, the conversation in Washington kept circling back to one theme that hits every small business directly: interest rates. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan publ…
This week brought a familiar tug-of-war in the headlines: Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan called for “modestly” higher interest rates, while New Yo…
Merchant cash advances and revenue-based advances are usually priced with a factor rate, not an interest rate — and the difference matters more than most busi…
Two of the most common financing tools do very different jobs. Choosing the right one starts with the shape of the expense you are funding.Term loans: one-time, known c…
SBA loans are among the most affordable financing available to small businesses — but they work differently from a standard bank loan, and they are not for ev…
If your customers pay on 30, 60, or 90-day terms, your cash can be tied up in invoices exactly when you need it to run the business. Invoice factoring is built for that…
From commercial ovens to work trucks to servers, the equipment your business depends on is often its largest up-front cost. Equipment financing spreads that cost over t…
Approval decisions can feel like a black box, but most funders weigh a familiar short list. Knowing it helps you present your business in the best light.The core threeR…
Juggling several balances with different rates and due dates is stressful and expensive. Consolidation rolls them into a single loan — but it is a tool, not a…
Working capital is the cash your business has on hand to cover day-to-day operations. Too little and a slow month becomes a crisis; too much sitting idle and you are le…
Deposit insurance is one of the quiet reasons the banking system holds together. Understanding the basics helps you keep more of your money protected.The standard cover…
APR and APY look almost identical, but they answer opposite questions — and mixing them up can cost or earn you real money.APR: the cost of borrowingAnnual pe…
Every business hits a slow stretch. A cash reserve turns that from an emergency into a manageable event. The clearest way to think about it is runway.What runway meansR…
Compounding is the closest thing finance has to a free lunch. It is also the reason starting early matters more than starting big.Interest on your interestWhen your bal…
How you split money between checking and savings quietly shapes your cash flow, your discipline, and how much interest you earn.Checking is for movementYour checking ac…
When you send money abroad, the advertised fee is rarely the whole story. The larger cost is often hidden in the exchange rate itself.The margin you do not seeProviders…
If you have ever compared the exchange rate on a finance site to the one your bank gave you, you have seen the gap between the mid-market rate and the retail rate.What …
For importers and any business with a global supply chain, currency costs are a recurring line item — and one of the easier places to save.Small percentages, …
If you are financing rental or investment property, one number often decides the deal: the debt service coverage ratio, or DSCR.What DSCR measuresDSCR asks a simple que…
Two metrics do most of the heavy lifting when investors size up a rental property. They measure different things, and you want both.Cap rate: unleveraged yieldThe capit…