A new poll brings to light big differences in who whites, blacks, and Hispanics blame for the recession, whether the nation’s economic policies have us on the right track, and how optimistic (or not) they are that things will get better. Curiously enough, the groups who were hardest hit by recession, and who are the least likely to hold …
Investing
9 Quirky Signs of the Times
A still-struggling, still-uncertain economy has increased the chances that you can’t help dreaming about the recession, your workspace is shrinking, your roommate could be a millionaire (on paper anyway), and you’re so sick of neighborhood potholes you’re considering filling them in yourself.
Who Are the ‘Thieves’ in the Modern-Day Economy?
“You know many of them: phone companies, cable operators and cellular companies are the obvious ones.”
Wanna Buy a House with No Money Down? Not Gonna Happen
If you want to buy a house anytime soon, you better start saving—immediately, and in large quantities. Toward the end of 2010, the median down payment on homes bought with conventional mortgages was 22% in a sampling of major U.S. cities, up from as low as 4% in the fourth quarter of 2006.
6 Explanations for Why Americans Can’t Save Money
What’s to blame for the falling national savings rate? Experts point to a range of reasons Americans just can’t (or won’t) save, including income inequality, the collapse of housing values, the disappearance of pensions, the rising costs of education and health care, and the iPad.
Get Schooled in Strategic Mortgage Default
Brent White, the University of Arizona law professor who is a leading proponent of strategic default—i.e., walking away from a mortgage when it’s in your financial interest—is leading an online seminar for underwater homeowners next week, after a similar seminar recently sold out.
Shout Out: ‘Learning to Walk: Fear, Shame, and Your Underwater Mortgage’
If you’ve been following the underwater mortgage epidemic and the related debate concerning to default or not to default, here’s an epic must-read that’s nearly 5,000 words long—and that has attracted well over 3,000 reader comments.
Free Checking Becomes Fee Checking
The era of free checking appears to be on its last legs. For months, signs have been regularly appearing indicating that this day would come: early rumors that Bank of America would roll out fees to make up for lost revenues due to new overdraft regulations, BofA testing new checking fees around the country, other big banks such as Chase …
Personal Finance Guru Q&A: ‘The Ten Commandments of Money’ Author Liz Weston
Liz Weston, author of a new personal finance bible of sorts, issues this key point in as straightforward a way as possible: “Anybody with a high school education can figure out the basics of money.”
Big-Box Banking: Why the Unbanked Are Cashing Checks at Walmart
Walmart, Kmart, and Best Buy are among the big retailers offering customers what are known as “alternative financial services”—allowing consumers to cash checks, pay utility bills, and transfer money without a traditional bank account. And hey, while consumers are in the store cashing a check, it might be possible they’ll be tempted …
Cheapskate Wisdom … About Real Estate Agent Commissions
“The standard 6 percent went out the window a long time ago.”
Personal Finance Guru Q&A: ‘Psych Yourself Rich’ Author Farnoosh Torabi
Next up in our personal finance guru Q&A series is Farnoosh Torabi, who doles out financial advice regularly on all the major morning talk shows, writes MoneyWatch’s Your So Money blog, and has a new book out called Psych Yourself Rich: Get the Mindset and Discipline You Need to Build Your Financial Life.