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…]
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…]
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…]
