If you’ve been snubbing a reverse mortgage, or counseling your elderly parents against it, take another look. These notoriously expensive loans are now on sale for less
You’re right to be careful about the loans. If mis-sold, they can leave you poor – and the press tells plenty of tales about mistakes. On the other hand, [...]
If you froze your credit cards in a block of ice this Christmas season, you’re part of a trend. The use of general cards such as Visa and MasterCard dropped by 11 percent in the third quarter of this year, the credit bureau TransUnion reports. America’s Research Group found that, over the [...]
For the economy, the tax deal seems all good news. That’s not only because most workers get a tax cut, in the form of a 2 percent reduction in Social Security taxes next year. The Big Big Boom comes from the fact that the bill is financed entirely by deficit spending – [...]
Student loans — if unpaid even for a short time — lock you into the only effective debtors’ prison existing in the United States. The government’s collection rights are something a mobster might admire. Late fees and collection fees are ruinous. Student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, so you’ll drag that escalating debt forever. [...]
I want to alert you to a tax loophole for the “lucky sperm club” (otherwise known as the heirs of the rich) that gets almost no publicity. Congress could plug it, when it reconfigures estate taxes for 2011 and beyond. Without public outcry, however, there’s no pressure to do so – and let’s face [...]
