MILWAUKEE, March 30, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Northwestern Mutual: Going into business presents a whole set of challenges, and going into business with a partner brings different questions and details to figure out. Here are seven items to consider before going into business with a partner: 

1. Values: Values are the foundation of any business partnership just like any relationship in life. "Shared values are vital, even before working on your vision," says Clay Cooper, CFP® at Clearview Financial Partners, an affiliate of Northwestern Mutual. "They guide decision-making, communication, and overall business strategy. Without mutual values, conflicts and misunderstandings can arise, leading to a breakdown in the partnership. Shared values create trust and can make conflict resolution much easier." 

2. Goals & Objectives: "To get where you want to go, you need to know where you are heading," says Cooper. That's why you've got to have crystal-clear goals and objectives that spell out exactly what you're trying to achieve and how you're going to get there. At times, the team needs this even more than the partners need this. Things might change along the way, but having a solid business plan from the get-go is key to staying motivated and focused, and ultimately achieving your shared vision. 

3. Communication: Taking the time to communicate openly and honestly is key when entering a business partnership. "Too often, I see people having easy conversations that lead to difficult relationships, instead of having difficult conversations that lead to easy relationships. It's important to address challenging issues head-on, even if it's uncomfortable, to build stronger and more meaningful connections," says Cooper. Partners should ensure that they are clear about what they need from each other to give the business the best possible chance. It can be helpful to discuss differences in communication styles and set expectations from the beginning. 

4. Conflict Resolution: Similar to communication, having a plan for resolving conflicts or disagreements when they arise is essential for any business partnership. Early on, develop a process for talking through issues constructively and know when to consult an objective third party. "We hold a standing meeting every Monday to discuss both the challenges and opportunities that arise in our business. Over time, this practice has become ingrained in our company culture, and we've developed a habit of addressing conflicts head-on, with the goal of finding effective solutions and continuously improving. Just like anything, the more you do it the easier it gets," says Cooper.  

5. Finances: "Money is an emotional magnifier," says Cooper. Partners will want to understand who is providing what financial resources and how they'll split the profits. Partners may also want to discuss life insurance options to protect the business should one of the partners die prematurely. If the budget allows, it may be worth considering permanent life insurance policies like whole life insurance. Whole life insurance comes with a cash value component that grows over time. Business owners can borrow against the cash value for any reason, including to cover an unexpected cost or finance an opportunity.  

6. Define Roles, Documentation & Formalization: Establish roles and responsibilities early on, so that everyone knows who is responsible for what tasks in the partnership. "If you and your partner have identical roles and strengths, this could be a sign this is not the right partner for you," Cooper says. "You want the sum of the parts to be greater than the whole." It is also important to have everything appropriately documented to protect all parties involved and divide ownership formally. Business partners may want to consult a lawyer before starting the business. "A formal written agreement should be table stakes for any partnership," says Cooper. "Handshake agreements very rarely work out well in the end." 

7. Exit Strategies: All businesses come to an end with one of the four D's: Departure, divorce, disability, or death. Business partners will want to discuss an exit strategy in case one partner decides to leave the venture for any reason. Setting money aside can help with a planned departure or sudden divorce. Life or disability insurance can be an important part of this strategy if there is an unplanned health event - "which no health events are planned," notes Cooper. It may be helpful to talk to a lawyer and a financial advisor to help develop an agreement outlining how things will be handled if this happens. Discuss with your advisor how whole life insurance can also act as a tool to buy out your partner, acting like a Swiss Army knife for the business and partnerships.  

The bottom line 

These are just some considerations when going into business with a partner. Taking the time to think through each of these points can help ensure that both parties are on the same page and give the business the best possible chance.  

The primary purpose of permanent life insurance is to provide a death benefit. Using permanent life insurance accumulated value to supplement retirement income will reduce the death benefit and may affect other aspects of the policy. 

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.  

About Northwestern Mutual

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Through a holistic planning approach, Northwestern Mutual combines the expertise of its financial professionals with a personalized digital experience and industry-leading products to help clients plan for what's most important.

NEW YORK, March 30, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Credello: You might have heard the term BNPL before. It stands for "buy now, pay later." This is a way of buying something, usually a larger purchase. You might use the BNPL method to buy a living room set or a new washer and dryer.

BNPL can be beneficial, but it's also possible to get yourself into trouble with it. We'll talk about why some consumers who have used the BNPL model aren't having the best time right now. We'll also go over the benefits of debt consolidation since that factors into this conversation.  

How BNPL Works

The buy now, pay later method works well if you want to get something and bring it home that same day, but you do not have the cash to pay for it outright. This might happen if you see some decorative item that will look good in your home or perhaps one with a practical purpose.

If you buy now and pay later, you might put some money down, and then you agree you will pay the rest during a certain designated period. The business entity from which you're buying the item might give you a grace period of three months, six months, or perhaps as long as a year, during which you need to make no payments.

The Possible Danger

If you want something badly, you might not worry about the future much. You just want that item, and you feel like you'll have plenty of time to pay it off within the next couple of years. Maybe you can do that with no problems.

Where things get tricky is if you lose your job or something else unforeseen happens while you assumed you would be paying off the rest of the item's price. If that happens, you're still on the hook for the rest of that money, even though you're not sure how you'll pay it.

Why Individuals Who Did BNPL Aren't So Happy

Some of those who did BNPL in 2019 or during 2020's earliest days didn't know the pandemic was coming. When it arrived, it blindsided them. 

Maybe they couldn't work for months, and they used most of their savings. Now, the rest of the money is due on those BNPL items. They may not have the cash to pay off the outstanding debt, though.

What's the Solution?

No two individuals or families will want to get out of debt the same way. You must look at your situation carefully and determine the best path forward.

Many who did BNPL and now don't have the money to pay off the remainder of their outstanding debt are turning to debt consolidation options, though. Debt consolidation can help you lower your overall interest rates by combining all your debts into a single loan with a lower interest rate.

Debt consolidation can help reduce the stress of dealing with multiple creditors and managing various payment schedules and it can improve your credit score over time by reducing your credit utilization ratio and making it easier to make timely payments. 

Use BNPL Cautiously

No one who used BNPL could have known a pandemic was on the horizon, but still, you can take a lesson from all this. The BNPL method is risky because you don't know what the future holds. 

Usually, it's better to only buy something if you can afford to pay for it all at once. If you purchased something using BNPL and are now trying to pay off what you owe, consider debt consolidation. It might make the most sense from a financial standpoint.  

About Credello

Credello is a financial tech company offering a personal finance tool that simplifies financial decisions through personalized, on-demand recommendations — so users can borrow, save, or invest with confidence. Credello believes that finding the right financial product should be as easy and interactive as online shopping, and we are on a mission to make that possible. For more information, please visit https://www.credello.com. 

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Pray.com's Passion Week podcast logo

LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Pray.com, the No. 1 app for prayer and faith-based audio and video streaming content, announced today the release of "Passion Week," a dynamic, eight-episode focused on the events of easter. Exploring in-depth Christ's heroic path from the streets of Jerusalem to the grave, "Passion Week" follows His passionate journey to redeem, restore and renew.

Listeners can expect to: 

• Develop a deeper understanding of the significance of each day of Holy Week 
• Experience what it's like to walk with Jesus during the last week of His life 
• Love the Lord and know of His love even more through this journey

"This powerful, new audio series truly encapsulates the heart of our mission," said Max Bard, VP of Content at Pray.com. "Each engaging episode shares intimate details of Holy Week, from the dark halls of the temple, where whispers of conspiracy condemn God Himself to death, to the brutal march up the hill of Calvary, where salvation was fought for us on the cross. Finally, we behold light bursting forth from a dark, cold grave on Easter Sunday. From Sunday to Sunday, this is the destination for Easter encouragement and a deeper understanding of what Jesus did for us."

The new series is exclusively available on the Pray.com platform. 

Highly sought-after voice actors Sylvia Zaradic and Todd Haberkorn share their talents, joined by Pray.com partners in ministry, who will each narrate an episode:

• Jim Graff, Faith Family Church 
• Beth Jones, The Basics with Beth 
• Kristiann Wargo, Create Your Now 
• And many others 

For more information or to access the "Passion Week" eight-episode audio-cast, visit www.pray.com/series/passion-week, where content is scheduled to go live April 1.

About Pray.com  
Founded in 2016 with a mission to grow faith and cultivate community, Pray.com is the world's No. 1 app for daily prayer and Bible based audio content. Reaching more than 10 million people world-wide through its mobile app and website, it is the easiest way to incorporate prayer into your daily life. Pray.com provides encouragement and inspiration through daily devotionals, Pastor podcasts, and Bedtime Bible Stories. Pray.com founders are Steve Gatena, Mike Lynn, Ryan Beck and Matthew Potter. See https://alarryross.com/pray-com for more information.

NEW YORK, March 29, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Credello: Having a good credit score is an essential tool in any financial arsenal, but studies show time and time again how little the public truly understands about how credit scores work. A recent study found that nearly 50% of those surveyed assumed that carrying a balance on a credit card is vital for maintaining good credit.

Unfortunately for them, the opposite is true: maintaining very low or $0 balances on credit cards ensures you'll have access to the best offers possible with competitive interest rates. On the other hand, high balances show that you may be unable to handle credit responsibly, making you a less desirable candidate for new cards or loans.

That's not the only myth that's affecting your credit score. Here are a few other popular ones we need to debunk.

Myth 1: Applying for credit cards hurts your score

Truth: This isn't totally a myth, but it is misinterpreted so much that it might as well be considered one. Applying for new credit is known as a "hard inquiry" or "hard pull" on your credit report, and having too many "pulls" within the span of three years can make lenders think you're desperate for money. Typically the highest credit scores have 0 - 2 inquiries on their report.

While hard inquiries account for 10% of your total score, their ability to lower your score depends on whether or not you'll be approved. Getting rejected for a credit card affects your credit score negatively but won't do much damage if your other metrics are good.

However, getting approved for new credit will most likely cancel out the damage done by a new inquiry because your amount of available credit will go up, lowering your credit utilization. Since your credit utilization accounts for 30% of your total score, this negates the 10% affected by the hard pull.

Myth 2: Paying a loan off early hurts your credit score

Truth: This is another that started off as technically accurate but has been misinterpreted so much that the way the general public understands it is a myth. Installment loans, like mortgages and car loans, are calculated in your credit score as part of your credit utilization but are sort of their own category (they don't matter quite as much as the amount of revolving credit you have vs. the balances you carry). 

Where they do matter is your on-time payments. The number of on-time payments you make is the highest-ranking factor of your credit report, accounting for 35% of your overall score. So if you're late on your loan payments, your score will be negatively affected. If you keep things up-to-date, you shouldn't have any negative effects.

Now if you're considering paying off a car early to improve your credit or consolidating personal loans, you might be worried that it will affect your utilization, dropping your score. Typically, this isn't the case (which is why we say loans are their own utilization category), but it may affect another aspect of your score: your history.

Your credit history is the average age of open accounts you have and is 15% of your overall score. If you pay a loan off early, the account is considered closed and will no longer be factored into your credit history. Again, this is only 15% of your total score, so if your other metrics are strong, you shouldn't see a significant drop in your score. Plus, paying a loan off early will reduce the overall interest you pay, saving you money. 

The bottom line

Your credit score is a critical factor for your financial foundation, so you need to understand how it's created and what truly affects your number. Do your research to find out which myths you think are helping your credit but doing the opposite. 

About Credello

Credello is a financial tech company offering a personal finance tool that simplifies financial decisions through personalized, on-demand recommendations — so users can borrow, save, or invest with confidence. Credello believes that finding the right financial product should be as easy and interactive as online shopping, and we are on a mission to make that possible. For more information, please visit https://www.credello.com. 

ATLANTA, March 29, 2023 (Newswire.com) - MollyTommy, the world's preferred safe and inclusive social media platform, is in the process of beginning to pitch its first round of funding in exchange for equity. The funds will be utilized primarily for the development of an app, and secondarily for targeted marketing spends to aggressively ramp up and expand its reach to both members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

Over 80% of MollyTommy's monthly online visitors are new to the site, and analytics show the new visitors are creating profiles, growing the online platform's memberships month after month. MollyTommy's recent launch into Europe also helped fuel the growth in both personal and business accounts. It's unprecedented to see such growth on a desktop-only social media platform.

"For far too long, the LGBTQ+ community has been underground, silent out of fear, and an intricate web of tribal knowledge and community. We are innovating and seeking to establish an entire ecosystem to pull the underground above ground. First steps are with the establishment of our safe and inclusive social media platform. Our website is incredible in lieu of the limited resources we have." - Sophia Hayden, MollyTommy Board Member

MollyTommy has positioned itself to be a top social media platform but needs to secure critical funding for app development. MollyTommy has begun talks with investors who are not only interested in changing the world for the ~780 million LGBTQ+ people around the world forever, but also opening up access to one of the most unique - and largely untapped - demographic cohorts of consumer spending power globally. It is estimated that the LGBTQ+ community has access to over $1.4 TRILLION in spending power. 

MollyTommy's vision is innovative, disruptive, world-changing, and calling out to investors to be part of something big. Their founders and team refuse to fail and will succeed. For those interested in scheduling a pitch call with the Co-Founders and board, or know of any potential investors who would have interest, please reach out to the media contact below. Help MollyTommy help the community (which needs them now more than ever) and create a better, more inclusive world for future generations. 

MollyTommy is a free social media platform where LGBTQ+ communities, their friends, families and businesses can unite with a sense of purpose and use their voices to engage with each other in a safe environment.

To join, visit mollytommy.com.