News

2012

January

03

• Better not to claim Social Security benefits early. The U.S. economy has made modest gains recently. Consumer confidence rose during the fall, and the stock market has stabilized. Meanwhile, employment appears poised to pick up, and even the housing market is showing glimmers…

02

• If you resolve to pay off credit cards this year, do it right. Many consumers this New Year will resolve to pay off their credit cards, and their intentions are in the right place. But, according to a recent study, how they go about it is likely to…

• Bamboozled: scams, banking problems, questionable deals. Economic uncertainty was the source of many consumer complaints in 2011. Unscrupulous contractors, bureaucratic banks and plain old scammers took big chunks out of the wallets of consumers who either needed help or were looking…

01

• Consumer protection made big gains in 2011. The last year was a remarkable one for consumer protection. Among the wins: A new watchdog agency opened for business, regulators cracked down on a controversial merger and a major bank retreated from a dubious…

2011

December

31

• New year will bring new laws and regulations for small business. Small-business owners will be greeted Jan. 1 with dozens of new laws and regulations. In California, they will include new mandates concerning employees, including a partial ban on checking the credit reports of workers and…

29

• What to do with your old cellphones, cameras and computers. If this holiday season was all about upgrading for you -- upgrading to a better computer, phone or camera -- then it's time to think about what to do with your old gadgets. The good…

• Incandescent light bulb phaseout begins Jan. 1. The nation's light bulbs begin facing new efficiency and labeling standards starting Jan. 1, but don't expect old-fashioned incandescents to suddenly disappear from store shelves. The congressionally mandated efficiency standards gradually phase out Thomas Edison's…

28

• Santa do you wrong? Gift return tips. No need to hurry to redeem those gift cards — no matter how many e-mail reminders you get — but think twice before you dawdle this year when returning unwanted gifts. Retailers have gotten far…

• The biggest cut in unemployment benefits. While Congress has been debating whether to cut the duration of unemployment benefits, perhaps the largest unemployment benefit cut occurred when the stimulus law expired. Unemployment insurance offers funds, for a limited eligibility period, to…

27

• Time Warner Cable's price going up again. Happy holidays. Your cable rates are going up. Again. In its most Grinch-like fashion, Time Warner Cable, the dominant cable company in Southern California, is alerting customers that rates for nearly all its services will…

• A plan for 2012 you’ll actually follow. For 2012, I have a challenge for you: make financial decisions on purpose. Too much of what we do is based on habits and assumptions instead of a thoughtful plan. During the next year, see…

• Airfares with less fine print. Advertisements that make airfares seem enticingly low will soon lose that asterisk pointing to a dense paragraph of additional taxes and fees that make a cheap ticket much more costly. Spirit Airlines, whose Web site…

24

• Hidden costs of dental neglect. Four years ago, 12-year old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache. Extreme neglect had led to an abscess that spread to his brain and killed him. The Drivers were a desperately poor family in Maryland…

23

• Best and worst secured credit cards for 2012. Millions of Americans have suffered financially as a result of the recent credit crunch, and many of them have been left with damaged credit reports. One way of starting to repair such damage is by…

• Consumers have more options to reduce energy bills. As winter begins and federal tax credits for home efficiency upgrades end, consumers need not despair: Options to reduce energy bills are expanding. States and utilities are spending more on energy-efficiency programs such as home…

• Retailers are slashing prices ahead of holiday. Half off at the entire store at Ann Taylor. Sixty percent at Gap. Forty percent off almost everything at Abercrombie & Fitch. Aggressive last-minute deals in the days before Christmas are good for procrastinators, but…

• Rising broadcast fees will cost consumers. CNBC's Darren Rovell reports cable consumers will be affected after December 31st, when MSG and Time Warner's contract ends.

22

• How people shopped online this holiday season. Little time remains for online shoppers to have gifts delivered in time for Christmas, and sales numbers for online shopping this season are arriving. The trends are clear: shoppers spent much more money online this…

21

• State tax changes on the way in 2012. While the fate of the payroll tax extension is still uncertain on Capitol Hill this week, at least some Americans can look forward to tax breaks at the state level when 2012 rolls around. The…

• Mystery donors paying off layaway accounts for needy. Anonymous "layaway angels" are rescuing Christmas for needy families across the nation. Mystery donors are visiting stores and paying the balance on accounts that allow customers to pay for purchases over several months. Some donors…