MoneyWise
News Archive
2008
August
09
- The case for a new national frugality. Oil prices are plunging and the stocks in your 401(k) retirement account are rebounding. Time to fire up the SUV, head to the mall and whip out that credit card? That's what automakers, retailers, restaurateurs…
- Living simply provides economic shelter. Keri Rainsberger isn't rich. She works in the nonprofit world for a relatively low-profit salary. Yet, as many Americans are scrimping for every penny, she hardly feels the pinch. She still tithes 10% of her…
- Bill would narrow second home tax loophole. Deep in the nearly 700 pages of the new housing bill is a complicated change in the tax code that could affect substantial numbers of people who purchase second homes or investment real estate in…
08
- How to spot a credit-card rip-off. Issuers are taking heat for hidden charges, but there's already an easy way to tell if a new card offer is a deal or not. It's the "Schumer Box," a table in every application named…
07
- Indebted ever after. A private-equity billionaire, a former federal government official and a Baltimore newsletter editor have made a documentary film that they hope can do what an endless parade of policy papers has not: Persuade Americans that…
- ¿Tienes dinero en un banco seguro?. Hasta ahora, las cuentas de ahorro bancarias o los Certificados de Depósito han sido el lugar ideal donde guardar esos fondos. Sin embargo, con las noticias más recientes de la quiebra de instituciones bancarias, tal…
06
- Gas prices fall for 20th day. Gasoline prices fell for the 20th straight day, pushing the nationwide average down more than 25 cents, according to a survey of gas station credit card swipes released Wednesday. Regular unleaded gas fell 0.9 cent…
- Nueva ley de ayuda a la vivienda. El miércoles 26 de julio, el presidente firmó el proyecto de ley conocido como el "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008". Esto finalmente pone en marcha la ley que desde hace un año se…
- La batalla de plástico. En estos tiempos en que muchos están pasando por periodos de vacas flacas, están viendo la tarjeta de crédito con cariño. Recientemente, la Reserva Federal mostró como muchos le están haciendo “ojitos” al plástico. Para…
05
- Thieves skim credit card data at fuel pumps. Customers and police agencies across the USA are dealing with another pain at the pump — thieves who install hard-to-detect electronic devices at stations to steal credit and debit card data. The skimmed data are…
04
- High cost of a 'free credit report'. Earlier this year, Kris Steele, a Web developer in Madison, Wis., who was planning to buy a car, decided to check his credit score. Mr. Steele, 27, remembered a number of commercials for FreeCreditReport.com featuring…
- Fares so high, only rich can fly?. Deregulation of the airline industry 30 years ago made air travel affordable to most Americans. Rising airfares threaten to again make flying a service for the affluent. Airfares have risen this summer more than any…
03
- Fed up with food prices, many growing it alone. Just beneath an L train subway platform in Brooklyn, Tanika Gentry fingers the deep green leaves of a collard plant in the black soil of a community garden. This is dinner. Gentry, fed up with…
- Don't fall for the mortgage rip offs. A little-known provision in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, recently signed into law by President Bush, is supposed to help home buyers understand how much debt they are taking on to purchase their home.…
- Low wage workers grapple with insecurity. Low-wage workers in the United States are gripped by increasing financial insecurity as they inch along an economic tightrope made riskier by pervasive job losses and rising prices. Many struggle to pay for life's basics…
02
- Housing tax credit is free $7,500 loan. Anyone who has been hesitant about jumping into real estate until conditions settle down should keep in mind these dates: April 9, 2008, through June 30, 2009. They mark the eligibility time span for the…
01
- Weigh before you pay: Debit or credit?. Among the debates that tend to vex shoppers — paper bags vs. plastic, plasma TVs vs. LCD — there's one standby: Credit or debit? The decision isn't a trivial one. When you shop, how you…
July
30
- SEC extends market-calming short sale limits. The Securities and Exchange Commission extended on Tuesday an emergency limit on short sales in shares of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and 17 brokerage firms as it prepares broader rules to thwart stock manipulation. The…
- Sprint must reimburse some early termination fees. Sprint Nextel was wrong to charge customers penalty fees of $73 million for early termination of cellphone contracts, a California court ruled yesterday, offering encouragement to customers of other companies who have filed similar suits…
- Mortgage applications hit a 2008 low despite lower rates. Mortgage application volume tumbled 14.1% the week ended July 25, hitting its lowest level of the year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey. The number of applications fell even though interest rates…