America’s student loan debt burden has reached a staggering $1.44 trillion, making it the second largest source of household debt in America – behind mortgages. According to a recent study, this growing loan burden is not equally shared between the sexes.
The report from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), titled “Deeper in Debt:
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Are you on track to meet your retirement goals? If not, now is the time to give your retirement account a little extra boost. Consider these 10 tips to increase your retirement savings and set you on track to a more comfortable retirement.
1. Start Early – If you don’t already have a retirement account,
Many sources are available to define and outline the fees that are associated with mortgage loans, but what about personal loans? Generally, personal loans are unsecured loans that are not tied to any form of collateral that can be taken over by the lender in case of default, such as a house with a mortgage
A recent action by a Court of Federal Claims has effectively stopped the collection of defaulted student loans – but for those affected, this is cause for concern, not celebration. To understand why, it’s important to look at the fate of defaulted loans and how those attempting to recover from the situation are being harmed
Even though retiring is the furthest thing from the minds of most twenty-somethings, you need to invest sooner, rather than later for one reason – you have an advantage over everyone else: time. Time to let your money grow exponentially. There is a reason Albert Einstein is credited with calling compound interest “the 8th wonder
America Breaks the Debt Record According to the New York Fed’s recent Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, America has more debt than ever before. Do you? Should you be concerned in either case?
The report shows that American household debt reached $12.73 trillion in the first quarter of 2017. That tops the previous
It may be impossible to know exactly how much money you need to save for retirement, but it’s a safe bet that if you have little or no retirement savings at all, you are going to have difficulties in your post-working years. Too many Americans currently fit this profile.
According to the Economic Policy Institute
Does Anybody See a Pattern? The financial crisis of 2007-2008 was caused in no small part by a housing market full of questionable mortgages. Loan qualifications were stretched beyond reason to accommodate eager homebuyers trying to deal with rapidly increasing prices. The resulting “subprime” loans were packaged inside vast mortgage pools (such as government-backed
Wealthy people achieve their wealth in many different ways, but typically, those who maintain it stay wealthy for a reason: they do not spend any more than they have to on any item. That principle applies just as much to buying a smartphone or vacuum cleaner as it does to buying a multi-million dollar conglomerate.
Years of low interest rates have provided underwhelming options for investors seeking Certificates of Deposit (CDs) as a relatively safe component of their portfolio. Yields above 1% are hard to find and often require tying up your money for a lengthy period. Even with a laddering strategy, the poor yields may not be worth the
If you are a first-time homebuyer, you may be aware of mortgage insurance but you may not know that there are two different types. Mortgage Insurance Premiums (MIP) and Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) both have the same general purpose: to offset the default risk to lenders when borrowers have purchased homes with low down payments
Congratulations! You have saved for your child’s education using a state 529 plan and built up a decent nest egg to send him or her off to college with minimal financial worries. Once a choice of college is made, you can apply the 529 funds toward the educational costs — but beware of these mistakes
The Wide Reach of Your Credit Report Your credit report, which is a compilation of your credit-related activities, plays a huge part in all of your financial activities that involve borrowing money. The credit scores derived from your credit report affect the interest rate offers that you receive on a loan or a credit card,
While many outlets are publishing Mother’s Day gift lists, none of them mention “bail money”. But enterprising bail bondsmen are trying to cash in on the holiday to promote their services.
A bail bond is a promise by an insurance company to pay the entire amount of someone’s bail if the accused doesn’t show up
Leasing a car can be an attractive option if you drive reasonably low miles and enjoy upgrading your ride frequently. You can look forward to a new car every few years without dealing with large down payments and losing money on rapid depreciation. However, leasing can be more expensive than buying a car, and prohibitively
We all want to help our children get the best start in life, and for many that includes helping them avoid excessive debt. That can lead you to co-signing student loans (or other credit sources) to help your children qualify for credit. You can then teach them how to manage debt responsibly. Isn’t that desirable?
You have bought an expensive new toy in expectation of your tax refund, and are now desperately waiting for the refund to arrive before the repo man and his large friend Vito come to visit. How can you find out the status of your refund at any time to estimate whether you need to make
You’ve received a letter from the IRS regarding an audit. What is your plan? Assuming the fetal position? Heavy drinking? Fleeing the country? Spontaneous combustion? None of these actions is necessary. Simply stay calm and assess the situation objectively.
The letter you receive may be one of three types:
Adjustment Letter – This notifies you
It all looks so obvious in hindsight. Make a $500 deposit and your money will grow 18% in 10 days. You can receive a $1,500 loan by MoneyGram if you pay $170 for fees and insurance. A driveway sealer happens to be driving by and offers to coat your driveway for a low price. You
One of the biggest things I learned
in the military long ago was that proper prior planning prevents pitifully poor
performance. I am astonished at the number of otherwise seemingly intelligent
adults who do not have
some amount of insurance,
even if only enough to prevent placing the financial burden of paying for their
It can be difficult to tell myth from fact when it comes to tax refunds. The IRS would like to help you by clarifying some tax return myths, and we are happy to help the IRS achieve their goal.
Let’s start by clearing up the 5 top myths about tax returns as listed by the
Did you end up owing a boatload of money to the IRS at tax time without having the money to pay for it, or did you receive a large refund? While the former is a lot more unpleasant than the latter, they are both symptoms of bad tax planning. A big refund feels good until
For two years in a row, Americans are going to get a little extra time to file their taxes, thanks to a holiday that may be completely unknown to you. In 2017, the tax-filing deadline will be April 18 thanks to Emancipation Day.
Emancipation Day is a legal holiday in the District of Columbia, held
Instead of enjoying a tax refund this year, you are surprised to find that you owe Uncle Sam. Even worse, you do not have the money to pay these surprise taxes. What can you do?
One thing you definitely do not want to do is ignore the tax bill. That will only make your situation
Examples of really bad ideas: Forgetting your spouse’s birthday or your anniversary, do-it-yourself brain surgery, and forgetting to file your federal tax return or pay your federal taxes. You may be short on the cash to pay your taxes, but there are better ways to address your tax problem than avoiding it entirely.
The IRS
Are you a procrastinator who waits until the very last moment to file your taxes? Thanks to Emancipation Day, the filing deadline is April 18, 2017, to file your taxes for the 2016 tax year. That gives you a few more days to consider last-minute ways to lower your taxes.
Start by reviewing your possible
April is National Financial Literacy Month. Why do we dedicate this calendar page to highlighting financial skills and education? The tax deadline? Sound financial decisions are important all year long, but most Americans never learned how to manage money or save for goals, so financial security is a bigger challenge than it needs to be.
You have just received an inheritance. What do you do now? You could spend it on some extravagance, but you would be better off doing two things first: assessing the tax ramifications and thinking about some investment options.
“Death taxes” are somewhat misunderstood, as people can find the two types of death taxes confusing. Estate
It is rumored that some of the wealthiest Americans manage to pay less in taxes than some of their employees. They achieve this by one of two methods: doing their own financial and tax planning or paying someone to do it for them. Simple, isn’t it?
The point is that the rich are able to
If you are having trouble making your auto loan payments, recent data from the New York Federal Reserve suggests that you are not alone. According to the New York Fed, delinquent auto loans have reached levels not seen in over eight years.
Auto loan delinquencies of greater than thirty days or more reached $23.27 billion,
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