Last month, megabanks Wells Fargo and Chase both announced pilot programs in which they will charge some customers a $3 monthly fee to use their debit cards. Additional banks, including SunTrust and Regions, have followed suit with plans for similar fees. Cue outrage. “A lot of it goes back to the history. Debit cards were supposed to …
Why You Should Get a Tax Credit for Volunteer Work
With millions of people down on their luck the past three years, older folks have filled big voids and provided real economic value through volunteerism. Now we’re going to slash their benefits?
Bargain-Hunting in Europe: How To Make the Best of the Crisis
Great stocks have been knocked down a lot even in the strongest European countries – so it’s time to start looking for opportunities.
Suburban Ghetto: Poverty Rates Soar in Suburbia
For well over half a century, the American dream has typically centered on life in the suburbs. A move to the idyllic suburbs—picket fences, sidewalks, cul-de-sacs, the whole deal—has traditionally signified success, a move …
Is the New Blockbuster-Dish Network Streaming Service a Better Value Than Netflix?
Netflix’s recent troubles, which began with a a new pricing plan that raised rates by 60% on many subscribers and continued as members fled, the stock price tanked, and the company decided to split its business in two, has given …
With Interest Rates So Low, Why The Heck Are Credit Card APRs So High?
It doesn’t seem to make sense: The Federal Reserve just announced a plan intended to lower long-term interest rates; it’s kept short-term interest rates at historic lows, and says it will continue to do so through mid-2013. So …
Why You Shouldn’t Buy Winter Clothes in Winter
In our first Moneyland post we advocated a “Wait and C” strategy for big financial moves, especially spending ones. Our basic idea was that many decisions, to the extent that they’re affected by hidden biases or impulses, would …
Gas Prices Finally Start Dropping as Predicted
The price at the pump was supposed to be a heckuvalot cheaper by now. In early August, gas prices appeared poised to plummet, with experts forecasting the national average for a gallon of regular would decrease by 1¢ per day. …
Six reasons why Greece should default
As global stocks tank over rising fears of a double-dip recession, one country at the center of the storm has never exited the recession – Greece. Amid its increasingly severe debt crisis, the Greek economy is in its third consecutive year of contraction, and, under pressure to slash state spending and stabilize its national debt, …
Don’t Panic! Why Falling Stock Prices Are a Good Thing
As tends to happen, yesterday’s dramatic stock market decline has put some investors on edge. The other day, I talked with my friend who is a financial planner, and he told me that after the market dropped by 15% in early August, …
Free Admission to Over 1,000 Museums on Saturday
In what’s become an annual autumn tradition, Smithsonian magazine is sponsoring a day of free admission to more than 1,000 museums around the country. This Saturday, September 24, is the big day when normal entrance fees are waived.
Market Tanks on Recession Fears (So What Else is New?)
When the Federal Reserve issues a statement warning about “significant downside risk” to the global economy, you don’t have to be Warren Buffett to guess what happens next – stock prices are going to take a dive.
And so they did. By the end of Wednesday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average had fallen 391.01 points, or …