MoneyWise

News Archive

2007

May

01

• Wedding costs fuel wedding insurance sales. If your idea of the perfect wedding venue is a drive-through chapel in Vegas, this column is not for you. If, however, the wedding of your dreams involves a June ceremony with a dozen attendants,…

• Immigrants slow rate of remittances home. The amount of money Latin American immigrants sent home from the United States grew at a slower rate during the first two months of the year than in the same period a year ago, according…

April

30

• Title insurance costs: too high?. Title insurance typically is a large, mandatory cost for home purchasers and mortgage refinancers - often in the $1,000 to $2,000 range. But is the price too high for what you actually get? Equally important:…

29

• Don't chase equity with a pricey automobile. I get so frustrated when I hear people try to justify buying an expensive car they can't really afford by saying, "Well, it'll hold its value." The truth is no vehicle holds its value unless…

27

• Bankruptcy rises fastest among people 55-plus. Personal bankruptcy filings by people 55 and older are growing faster than those by any other age group, in part because of rising mortgage debt and medical expenses among seniors, a study published yesterday concludes.…

25

• Home appliance purchases demand homework. You’ll probably spend a lot of time considering color and style when choosing a new home appliance. My wife and I did. Just don’t forget to find out about reliability. Trust me ... it’s important.…

• Tuition loans could soon change. When Loretta Medeiros' financial aid letter from New York University arrived last summer, she remembers seeing just one lender mentioned: Citibank. Assuming it was the only lender NYU worked with, Medeiros borrowed nearly $29,000 in…

23

• Electric deregulation's promise fails. BENTON, Ill. — This wasn't supposed to happen with deregulation. Electric bills were supposed to go down. Instead, Ellie Dorchincez can almost see the dollars evaporating every time she turns on the lights or opens…

22

• Math lesson for college grads. Millions of college seniors are interviewing for their first full-time jobs in preparation for stepping out of the hallowed halls of education and into the real world. And with it comes a world of debt.…

• What they are taking from your 401(k)?. Like 47 million other U.S. workers, software engineer Don Sengpiehl is counting on retirement money invested in a company-sponsored 401(k) savings plan. But ask Sengpiehl how much that plan costs, and the 54-year-old Loudoun County…

21

• Negative impact of appraisal inflation. Have inflated appraisals helped fuel the surge in foreclosures on credit-strapped borrowers? Are such appraisals at the core of many mortgage-fraud schemes? The four largest trade groups representing appraisers say yes -- and they are…

20

• Home sellers end up owing in 'upside down' sales. Jeffrey Taylor and his wife bought their dream home in Purcellville for $538,000 last August. Now they have to sell it because they are getting divorced and neither one can afford the mortgage alone. The…

19

• Northeastern taxpayers get week's filing break. Taxpayers in the Northeast swamped by a powerful storm just before the filing deadline can delay filing their federal returns for another week, the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, Mark W. Everson, said Wednesday. Filers in…

• Freddie Mac helps homeowners refinance subprime loans. Freddie Mac, one of the nation's largest mortgage investors, plans to buy about $20 billion worth of mortgages that would primarily refinance the loans of people in danger of losing their homes. The McLean company…

• TurboTax users have until midnight to file. Thousands of frustrated TurboTax customers complained that they missed this week's federal and state tax deadline after heavy last-minute volume swamped the popular electronic tax-filing system. Users of Intuit's TurboTax said they faced hours-long delays…

18

• Regulators urge cautious approach in foreclosures. Federal regulators Tuesday urged lenders to be flexible with borrowers who are behind on their home payments, as mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) laid out initiatives to help strapped consumers refinance…

• Don't fall for debt relief scams. How’d you like to lower your monthly credit card and loan payments — guaranteed? It’s an offer that sounds mighty appealing to anyone struggling to pay their bills. A growing number of companies across the…

16

• Middle class audited more and more quickly. Middle-class Americans, listen up: the I.R.S. is much more likely to audit you this year. Those caught cheating can expect to pay about $4,100 more on average in income taxes. Since 2000, authorities at the…

14

• Mortgage Mod Squad saves homes. With large numbers of homeowners falling behind on mortgage payments, lenders across the country are seeking ways to keep delinquent customers out of foreclosure. One of the newest approaches: the Mod Squad, a roving 50-person…

13

• Congress looks at setting rights for air passengers. The way Kate Hanni tells it, a holiday trip that left her family stuck inside a grounded airliner for nine hours without food, running water or working toilets amounted to "cruel and inhumane" treatment that…