News

2012

May

22

• Credit card perks could cut vacation costs. There are lots of ways to save money on your summer vacation. Go for one week instead of two. Drive instead of fly. Stay in a hotel with free breakfast and eat enough to last…

• Five proposals to solve college loan crisis. A college degree is supposed to pave the way to a better life. It didn't work out that way for Judith Tuck. Tuck graduated from the University of Arizona in 1996 with a master's degree…

21

• More men enter fields dominated by women. After years of economic pain, Americans remain an optimistic lot, though they define the American dream not in terms of mansions and luxury cars but as something more basic — a home, a college degree,…

19

• Facebook's lackluster debut hurts other social media stocks. Wall Street didn't get the Facebook effect it was hoping for. In a sign that the social networking giant may have already become a bellwether for its sector, shares of virtually every social media company…

• The number of those working past 65 is at a record high. The retirement dream seems further away for a lot of baby boomers, and they appear to be responding to that by holding on to their jobs if they can. But that may have worsened the…

18

• Paying companies to hire the unemployed. Would you donate $6,000 to subsidize someone else's job? The WorkPlace, a Connecticut non-profit agency, believes the best way to get the long-term unemployed back into the workforce is by paying companies to hire them.…

17

• Millennials use alternative financial services. Payday loans, check cashing and prepaid debit cards have found a new customer in the cash-strapped twentysomething. Under-banked Millennials are using alternative financial services such as these at similar rates regardless of income level, according…

16

• Child care cost hikes derailing women's careers. Clarissa Doutherd, 30, was able to lift herself out of poverty and climb the ladder of success at a nonprofit, rising from part-time bookkeeping assistant to staff accountant. But last year the high cost of…

• Stay-at-home mom fights new credit card rule. After nearly five years managing her family's finances, Holly McCall, a 34-year old stay-at-home mother of two from Vienna, Va., never thought she would have trouble getting a credit card. She makes the majority of…

15

• Taxpayers fund high pay collectors chasing student loans. Joshua Mandelman made $454,000 in a single year as a student-loan debt collector -- more than twice the pay of the U.S. secretary of education. His boss, Richard Boyle, chief executive officer of Educational Credit…

• What the student loan rate hike means to you. For student borrowers, that pricey college education is going to cost a bit more next year. If Congress does not act, interest rates on federal student loans, which were temporarily held at a low 3.4%,…

• New online tool to estimate Social Security benefits. On May 1, Social Security launched a feature on its website, www.socialsecurity.gov, that allows workers to view an online version of their Social Security earnings and benefits statements. The program also allows you to estimate…

13

• Prepaid card market heats up — and the fees are plentiful. Prepaid debit cards are everywhere these days — and so are their fees. The cards allow you to load cash onto them and are accepted by businesses just like other types of plastic. But you…

11

• Gay or straight, marriage gets pricier. President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage this week propelled the controversial social issue back into the national spotlight, just six months before the November elections. But while politicians and pundits debate the ethical and religious…

• Bye bye unemployment benefits. More than 200,000 long-term jobless Americans will lose their unemployment checks this week, when eight states roll off the federal extended benefits program. Nearly half of them live in California, and the rest reside in…

• Battle over debit card swipe fees goes on. When gas prices edged above $4 a gallon earlier this spring, the Merchants Payments Coalition, a group that represents retailers, said "hidden fees" charged by banks and card processing companies added up to 10 cents…

10

• Bill to crack down on nasty overdraft fees. Rep. Carolyn Maloney doesn’t want you to unwittingly fork over $35 for a cup of coffee. Maloney, D-N.Y., Wednesday introduced the "Overdraft Protection Act," a bill that aims to crack down on overdraft fees. The…

09

• Employee perks good for employers, too, study suggests. Companies that provide employees with generous benefits, including contributing more to retirement funds and absorbing health insurance hikes, are often financially healthier because of it. A study released Wednesday found employers that offered substantial programs…

08

• Prepaid cards: Don't be misled. Issuers of prepaid debit cards are taking heat over high fees and how they market to consumers. Prepaid cards give consumers an alternative to traditional bank accounts by letting them load their own money onto…

• How to raise a financial wizard. Though only a third of 2012 has passed, Zac Bissonnette is already a strong contender for the cheekiest author of the year award. His new book, “How to Be Richer, Smarter, and Better-Looking Than Your…