Those days when 65 years was a straightforward benchmark for retirement are long gone. People now put in a lot of thought while deciding the right time for retirement and this decision will depend on many factors, particularly the kind of life you wish to lead after retirement. [Read more…]
Lack of Money May Bring Reprieve for Prisoners in California
Due to a severe financial crisis, the California government is struggling to even provide for the basic needs of the prisoners.
Currently more than 10% of the state budget goes to its penal system, which amounts to about $8 billion. This is much more that what the state spends on higher education. In spite of this, many prisoners have been sleeping in a gym. A jail near Los Angeles houses double the number of prisoners it was created to hold. To deal with the situation, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has initiated serious plans to reduce the burden of prisoners on the jails so that the state can improve its financial situation. [Read more…]
What You Need to Know About Home Buyer Tax Credits
With the tax filing date getting close, people have been looking for new avenues of saving tax. , . One of the biggest opportunities of saving tax this year is availing the federal homebuyer tax credit. [Read more…]
Dollar Gains Upper Hand Against Euro
As skepticism continues about how effective Greece’s actions will be in dealing with its debt problems, the dollar rallied to gain an upper hand over the Euro after a long gap of 2 years. Not only that, it has recorded the highest gain per quarter as compared to the Euro in this period.
Euro countries are still threshing out the final plan which will help pull Greece back on its feet but no positive conclusion is imminent yet. Given the uncertainty in the situation, the general confidence in dollar is growing by leaps and bounds. Traditionally, the dollar has always grown stronger in face of uncertain Euro performance and vice versa. [Read more…]
Government Foreclosure Prevention Measures Changes Announced
In a bid to keep homeowners in their homes even if they are unable to meet repayments, the Obama government had unveiled foreclosure prevention measures a few months back. The expectation was that once the housing market is given a helping hand to stabilize, by preventing foreclosures and supporting homeowners, it would help the economy regain its footing too.
However, it appears as though the government’s foreclosure prevention measures will not achieve the targets originally set. [Read more…]
Obama’s Medicare Subsidy Changes to Hit Retirees Hard
President Obama’s healthcare overhaul may well spell trouble for retired employees. Several top companies with substantial staff, both on rolls and retired, have pointed out that this overhaul makes their drug benefit program for ex-employees expensive and non viable.
AT&T recently joined a growing list of US industry majors in broadcasting its whopping $1 billion expense owing to the healthcare policy modifications, which included dramatic changes to the taxation of Medicare subsidies. This figure is nearly a third of the phone company’s latest quarterly earnings. [Read more…]
How to Invest Your Money Overseas
Is there anything like the right time to invest? How much should your investments be and where should you invest? These and many other such questions are often faced by a new investor. Investing can be risky business when you are putting your hard earned money into volatile assets, and it is important to be careful about these decisions. [Read more…]
Low Risk High Return Investments
Whenever interest rates drop, people look out for investments with higher returns and low risks. But it is important to remember that all options that will offer higher returns will also involve relatively greater risk.
Take for example, reverse convertible notes or revertible notes, which are financial instruments with returns tied to a stock value. These instruments offer a higher rate of return, but if the stock value drops, you can suffer significant losses. In some cases, even the principal amount might not be recoverable. Yet another example is investing in a bond fund where you run the risk of losing your investment when the interest rates increase. The risk will increase with the term of the bond. [Read more…]
Divorce and Division of Assets
Undergoing a divorce is quite painful emotionally, but there are practical aspects too that you have to manage, such as division of your or your spouse’s assets. Asset division laws are not straightforward and there can be cases where particular assets are given to one party, whereas in others they might be shared equally or in some other proportion between the two. [Read more…]
Managing Your Finances after Retirement
It is often believed that the spending of a person decreases after retirement because people become less active as they grow old. However, bad health and inflation can significantly increase the outflow of money after your retirement, and your financial situation might improve or worsen depending on how well you have planned for these expenses. A new theory divides retirement age into three stages. [Read more…]
SEC Staff Reviewing Derivatives Trading by Funds
The Securities and Exchange Commission has said that its staff is reviewing whether there is a need to revamp derivatives trading rules for mutual funds and exchange traded funds.
The SEC said that it was the right time to have a look at the rules that govern derivatives trading by funds. It wants to determine if any changes are needed to provide better protection to investors. There has been increasing concern recently that derivatives trading has become too sophisticated to be governed by rules that were set many years ago. [Read more…]
Unemployment Claims Drop for the Third Time in the Last Month
Although there is still no major dent in the unemployment numbers, there seems to be a slow but steady improvement in the situation. The latest weekly jobless data shows that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits had fallen for the third time in the last one month. [Read more…]
Mixed Reaction to Bank of America’s Debt Reduction Offer
Bank of America announced on Wednesday that it would start offering debt reduction for homeowners who have an underwater mortgage. However, the offer has got a mixed reaction from industry analysts.
Bank of America has said that it would reach out to homeowners who are struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments and are likely to see a foreclosure of their property if no help is offered. The offer would be valid only when the mortgage balance exceeds the value of the property by at least 20%. The bank would choose about 45,000 homeowners to whom it would extend the offer of reducing their debt by a maximum of 30% in the next few years. [Read more…]
Effect of Sports Events on Local Economy
Popular sports events like World Cups and Olympics can actually give a significant boost to the economy. Even though these events involve large investments on things such as venues and infrastructure, many countries worldwide compete to win hosting rights of major sporting events. These events bring significant economic, reputational and social benefits for the hosting country. [Read more…]
Manage Your Credit Cards Better and Avoid Unnecessary Debt
As a result of the recent recession, credit card delinquency rates in the United States are at an all time high. d.
So how do you go about getting a grip on your finances to ensure that you overcome these difficult times without accruing a lot of debt on your credit cards? [Read more…]
Tips on Taking Out a Home Equity Loan
We hear a lot about home equity loans these days, but not many of us are fully aware as to what such a loan means and how you can benefit from it. Home equity loans are a type of loan in which the borrower uses his equity in his house as a guarantee for the loan. [Read more…]
How Health Insurance Deductibles Can Reduce Your Premiums
Health insurance premiums are recurring expenses that have to be met consistently and on time in order to ensure proper coverage for medical expenses. In tough times like the recent recession, such recurring expenses can put a huge strain on finances causing many people to default on payments and leave themselves exposed to further financial burden when medical emergencies occur. [Read more…]
Geithner Says US Can’t Force China Move on Currency
Timothy Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, has said that the government cannot force China to change its currency policies. He was responding to the recent criticism that the government was not doing enough to stop China from maintaining its currency at a depressed level. [Read more…]
Bank of America Announces Loan Forgiveness Plan
Bank of America has announced that it will start forgiving some portion of home loans of borrowers who have underwater mortgages. The company said that the scheme would allow borrowers to save their home from going into foreclosure. [Read more…]
New Gift Card Rules Will Protect You from Early Expiration and Inactivity Fees
The Federal Reserve announced new rules concerning gift cards to protect the consumers’ interests against abuse by credit card issuers. For long now, consumers had to cough up hefty fees and charges on account of servicing, inactivity or dormancy. To top it, the expiry dates of gift cards can be short, which leads consumers to losing money on these cards without even using them. [Read more…]
What Affects Your Credit Score Negatively
The after effects of the mortgage loan crisis are going to be felt for years to come. Already loan and mortgage lenders are tightening the criteria of lending and you may feel the change when you are out shopping for a loan.
The FICO credit score is the most widely used primary factor to assess you risk as borrower. The score ranges from 300 – 850. The higher the score, the better the interest rates and terms offered to you on credit lines and loans. A score of 700 and above has so far been considered a healthy number, but this is now changing with the lenders becoming more risk averse. The lenders have now upped their criteria for eligibility and better borrowing rates by almost 20 – 40 points. [Read more…]
Geithner Supports Fannie and Freddie Overhaul
Timothy Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, has said that he supports an overhaul of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to prevent a housing market crisis similar to the one that led to the recession. He however cautioned that we should be selective in which aspects to change and which to retain as there were many parts of the system that have functioned well despite the crisis. [Read more…]
How to Predict Currency Movements
Ever since the US left the gold standard behind in 1973, the dollar value has fluctuated in line with market forces, economic conditions and the performance of currencies belonging to other countries. For traders who deal in foreign exchange, the expertise in determining the right time to buy or sell dollars is critical to their success. A number of factors influence the currency value of any country and here are some of them. [Read more…]
Expected Homeowners to Get Relief under the Loan Modification Program
In a Treasury report released on Tuesday, the initial estimate of homeowners getting relief under the Obama administration’s Loan Modification Program has been slashed down by more than half. The initial estimate of helping 4 million homeowners is now expected to go down to 1.5 to 2 million homeowners likely to receive aid under the program. [Read more…]
How to Manage Your Budget If You are Self Employed
Budgeting plays a very important role in managing your finances and ensuring that you do not face financial hardships. If you are self employed or if a large proportion of your earnings comes from commissions, then budgeting becomes critical because your income will be irregular. [Read more…]
Investment Lessons from the Recession
The recession is hopefully behind us now, but it is important to learn some lessons from it so that you can invest more wisely when the next bear market comes. A lot of people lost large proportions of their investments in the stock market crash of 2008. However, that does not mean it is impossible to protect your money when the times are rough. Here are some tips to shield your investments from the next bear market. [Read more…]
Choosing Where to Live After Retirement
You might have often dreamed about your retirement. You would have thought about making enough money to settle down in a beautiful location, in a home that caters to all your needs, and indulging in hobbies that you could not find time for. [Read more…]
Large Cap Companies Shrink Their Liabilities by 8.2%
Large cap companies on the S&P 500-stock index have shrunk their liabilities by 8.2%. Liabilities comprise of short and long term debt owed by the company, along with other financial obligations like the company’s contribution towards the pension funds. This trend is an indication of how companies have been shedding off the extra baggage to survive better in the hard times. [Read more…]
Bank Crimes Down by 11%
It has been reported that bank crimes sharply fell last year, by almost 11% compared to 2008. It’s especially food for thought for those who believe that joblessness and poor economy instigates more crime.
The FBI released the bank crime numbers recently which indicated that the total number of crimes have fallen to 6,065 from the previous year’s 6,857 violations reported in 2008. There are some more interesting facts that came to light with respect to these bank crimes. [Read more…]
Stock Market Not Worried About Healthcare Reform
Ever since the discussions on the Healthcare bill started, critics have always argued that it is anti capitalism and against industry. However if the immediate reaction of the stock market is anything to go by, it does not seem that investors in pharmaceutical or insurance companies, or for that matter any other sector of the market, are too worried about the bill. [Read more…]
Why a 529 Plan May Not Be the Best Option to Save for College
A 529 plan is a higher education savings plan, which derives its name from the section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. As college education and tuition fees grow costlier year on year, many parents invest in these plans to assure their children of good education. However, there are some downsides to these plans, which need to be considered before you make an investment. [Read more…]
Plan Early for Your Retirement
Retirement can bring a lot of changes to your lifestyle. Whether these are pleasant or not largely depends on how much planning has been put in during your years of employment.
Financial stability and independence play a huge role in laying the foundation for peaceful and stress free retired years. Post retirement, you cannot fall back on a regular monthly paycheck to meet expenses, and that is why having a reliable stream of funds coming in from your investments is important. With proper management of your finances during employment, this can be achieved quite effectively. [Read more…]
