Key takeaways A joint bank account is a bank account owned by two or more people, typically couples, family members or business partners. Everyone on the account can deposit money, withdraw money and see all transactions — no matter who put the money in originally. Joint accounts double your FDIC…

Excise taxes and sales taxes both generate government revenue, but they work in fundamentally different ways. Sales taxes apply broadly to most retail purchases at a uniform percentage rate, appearing as a line item at checkout. Excise taxes, by contrast, target specific goods, like gasoline, tobacco and alcohol, and are…

kate_sept2004/Getty Images S&P 500 index funds allow you to invest in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, a collection of stocks that includes the largest and most successful companies in the U.S. The S&P 500 index has returned an average of about 10% annually over time. Here are seven of…