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What It’s Really Like to Be Rich
Tweet Share on Facebook September 5, 2012 CommentWealth—who has more of it, how it was earned, and how it’s spent—has been a centerpiece of the presidential race this year. Now, a new report from the Pew Research Center shows what self-described upper- and upper-middle class Americans really think about their lives, and what less-fortunate Americans really think of them.
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The Best-Paid Moonlighting Jobs in America
Tweet Share on Facebook August 23, 2012 CommentWhen Jeff Frederick lost his architecture job back in 2008, he quickly made up for some of his lost income by finding freelance architecture projects on Elance.com, a website for online freelancers. His wife was already using the site to earn extra cash as a writer, and he found a steady stream of architecture-related projects. “I bid on some jobs there and started getting them, and it helped sustain us through the downtime,” says Frederick, who lives in Troy, Mich.
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Consumers Gain More Power Over Their Banks
Tweet Share on Facebook August 21, 2012 CommentHere’s some good news for frustrated bank customers: You have more power than you think. That’s according to a new report from Ernst & Young, which surveyed almost 30,000 banking customers throughout the world and found—not surprisingly—a lot of unhappy customers. Those customers were twice as likely to switch banks as they were last year and fewer than half said their current bank adapts products and services to meet their needs.
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New (and Improved) Layaway Returns to Stores
Tweet Share on Facebook August 20, 2012 CommentLayaway programs are making a comeback, but they look a little different than they did a decade ago. While stores still charge customers fees for the ability to pay for purchases over time, some stores now offer refunds on those fees after customers pay for the items in full. Walmart recently announced that for this holiday season, it will refund the $15 fee to open a layaway account after customers make their final payment, and it will no longer charge a cancellation fee to customers who fail to finish paying for the item.
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Bumbo Recall Shows Growth of Safety Standards
Tweet Share on Facebook August 16, 2012 CommentLike thousands of parents this week, I was surprised to hear that the popular Bumbo baby seats were being recalled. The sitting-aid was a favorite device of my daughter’s when she was younger, before she could sit up on her own. I’d heard grumblings on parenting boards before that they weren’t safe for babies, since they could topple out of them, especially if placed on a table, but I figured that if they stayed on the floor, the danger was minimal. This week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission determined otherwise.
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How to Be Rich Like a Rap Star
Tweet Share on Facebook August 14, 2012 CommentRap artist Slim Thug is not your typical financial expert: He doesn’t hold any advanced financial degrees or experience working in the financial world. Instead, his training is his life. As the youngest of seven children growing up in Texas, he remembers what he describes as constant evictions from apartments and living off of welfare. His mother, a single parent, worked seven days a week trying to support her family.
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Why Olympic Athletes’ Parents Go Broke
Tweet Share on Facebook August 7, 2012 CommentAs their children win gold medals, bask in the limelight, and pick up lucrative endorsement deals, at least two medalists’ parents are facing major financial problems: Gymnast Gabby Douglas’s mother, Natalie Hawkins, who filed for bankruptcy, and Ryan Lochte’s parents, who are facing foreclosure.
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Taxmageddon: What You Need to Know
Tweet Share on Facebook August 6, 2012 CommentTaxmageddon has become one of the big buzzwords of summer: It describes the fact that the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year, which means tax increases for all—unless Congress acts. That means Americans can expect to pay more by way of increased income taxes across all tax brackets, lower tax credits (including for dependent care), and new Affordable Care Act taxes.
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Cars, Credit Top List of Consumer Complaints
Tweet Share on Facebook August 1, 2012 CommentDid you buy a lemon of a used car? Have you had issues with debt collectors or billing errors? If so, you’re not alone: Auto and credit-related complaints topped the list of consumer grievances last year, according to a new survey of consumer agencies released by the Consumer Federation of America and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators.
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New Website Uses Math to Give Money Advice
Tweet Share on Facebook July 31, 2012 CommentAs Michael Carvin prepared to buy a home in 2010, he figured he would be good at it: He’d been working in finance for seven years, helping companies make financial decisions. But he discovered that buying a home was far more complex than his day job. “There were tax consequences, financing alternatives, and I had Realtors telling me I could afford twice what I thought. I was left with a lot of confusion,” he says.
