From the category archives:

Debt

A friend recently sent me the following email:

“… here’s a question to challenge your finance column. I’ll make it a little hypothetical. “Our son graduated from college and is working to save money for graduate school. In college, he accumulated over $20000 in student loans (avg. 7%) and desires to pay them down ASAP by paying more then the minimum payment while at the same time saving money to attend graduate school. He recently found out that the company he works for has a matching 401K plan which in effect results in a 100% return. It so happens that a person can use money from a 401K to finance continuing education—paying a 10% penalty and normal income taxes. [click to continue…]

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About the writer: This guest post was written by Garrett Driscoll from Debt Eagle.   Give Garrett a visit if you need help with credit card debt, debt management, or bankruptcy.

Debt Settlement world has been under scrutiny

The debt settlement industry has been under a mountain of scrutiny as the U.S. economy continues to slump. Consumers have been acquiring more debt as job losses rise and often turn to credit cards in order to pay the bills. Recently a flood of television, radio, and internet advertising has poured into the airwaves from debt companies that promise an easy fix for very complicated debt problems. Complaints about these companies to the BBB have grown and many consumers have gotten into serious financial trouble as a result of working with them. The New York Senator Charles Schumer is looking to change this with the 2010 “Debt Settlement Consumer Protection Act“. This act, as a part of the Obama administration’s overhaul of financial laws, should go into action on October 12, 2010. It will serve to fight predatory debt settlement companies that take advantage of this now booming market. Even though the debt industry is a magnet for bad business practices, not all debt settlement companies are predatory (Some even have triple A ratings from the BBB). There are still a good number that want to do good business and try to help their customers. Are these harsh new laws going to wipe out ethical debt companies as well? [click to continue…]

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This Family Paid Cash For Their Car; You Can Too!

July 21, 2010

My friends John and Lisa recently shared some exciting news with me: for the very first time in their lives they paid cash for a car – a sweet 2 year old Toyota Prius with only 29,000 miles on it. They saved up the $17,000 purchase price (new price was $31,000), did some shopping and [...]

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Mortgage loan modification – How does it help borrowers?

June 16, 2010

Author’s Bio : Jessica Bennet, with her vast experience in the mortgage industry has been associated with the MortgageFit Community as a Mentor. Not only does she participate in the community forums to give her suggestions, but also makes her contributions through different articles on mortgage. If you are experiencing any trouble with your current [...]

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How to Pay Off Your House (and everything else) Early

June 14, 2010

“It seems like we will be making house payments forever. We owe $140,000 at 6% interest and are paying $1000 a month. How much sooner could we pay it off if we started paying an extra $100 a month?” The above is a hypothetical question, but it could be you. There are two answers: the [...]

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A Great Phone Call

June 11, 2010

As you may know, I am a self employed financial counselor, meaning that I help people devise a plan to reach their financial goals. I wish that I could say that every story has a happy ending, but life is real and story book endings don’t always happen. You may remember reading The Sad Tale [...]

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Undoing That Car Purchase You Shouldn’t Have Made

May 24, 2010

“Geraldine”, a sassy lady portrayed by the late Flip Wilson, answered her husband thusly when he demanded an explanation for yet another new dress: “The Devil made me do it! I was walking down the street minding my own business when he snuck up behind me and pushed me into that dress store. He MADE [...]

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What is “Strategic Default” and Should You Consider It?

May 3, 2010

Strategic Default, according to Wikipedia, is “the decision by a borrower to stop making payments (i.e. default) on a debt despite having the financial ability to make the payments.”    This practice is particularly associated with residential and commercial mortgages in which, because of a substantial drop in the value of the real estate, the property [...]

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Reverse Mortgages Part Four: Should You Get One?

March 17, 2010

photo credit: get directly down Part one of this four part series explained the complexities of a reverse mortgage. Parts two and three gave the advantages and disadvantages respectively. And now, in part four, we arrive at the crux of the reverse mortgage issue: is it for you? First, however, let’s review the definition and [...]

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Is Buying a New Car For Zero Percent Interest Loan a Good Idea?

March 15, 2010

photo credit: jessicafm My friend Larry recently asked me a good question that led to a challenging question: “Joe, isn’t it true that everyone needs to be putting aside money every month for a car fund?” Joe, “Well, yes. Although some may be wealthy enough to have a nest egg generating vehicle purchase money, the [...]

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Reverse Mortgages Part Three: What are the Disadvantages?

March 10, 2010

Jacqueline Marshal* and her husband Tom* were comfortably retired when Tom died unexpectedly. Because both of them had been drawing a Social Security pension, Jacqueline’s monthly income was reduced by $700 a month (the smaller of the two pensions) upon Tom’s death. Jacqueline considered replacing the bulk of that lost cash flow by taking out [...]

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Reverse Mortgages Part Two: What Are The Advantages?

March 3, 2010

photo credit: Maxwell GS When Donald Franklin became a widower he wasn’t prepared for the financial consequences. He and his wife Wilma had become accustomed to both of their pensions and both of their social security incomes. However, his survivor benefits paid him only half of her pension and none of her social security. Donald [...]

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