mbeals

1/13/2015 - Consumer Agency Launches Tool To Help You Find A Cheaper Mortgage (NPR)

Many Americans love a good deal, shopping around to save $10 or $20 on a pair of pants or winter coats for the kids — but when finding mortgages, nearly half don’t even call around to different banks. Three-fourths only fill out an application with one lender. In response, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is… Read more 1/13/2015 - Consumer Agency Launches Tool To Help You Find A Cheaper Mortgage (NPR)

1/7/2015 - How Grandchildren Botch the Best-Laid Retirement Plans (Bloomberg)


For people without enough money to retire, one solution seems obvious: keep working. But life often gets in the way. Health issues make it impossible to work, or they lose a job and can’t find another. Here’s another factor that disrupts the best intentions: grandchildren. Women are more likely to retire when their children have… Read more 1/7/2015 - How Grandchildren Botch the Best-Laid Retirement Plans (Bloomberg)

1/7/2015 - The Smart Money is Finally Embracing the Right Way to Invest. You Should Too. (Money)

Since launching the Vanguard 500 fund in 1975, Vanguard founder Jack Bogle has been preaching the gospel of indexing — a plain-vanilla, low-cost strategy that calls for buying and holding all the stocks in a market and “settling” for average returns. He’s so fervent that his nickname in the industry is St. Jack. Read the… Read more 1/7/2015 - The Smart Money is Finally Embracing the Right Way to Invest. You Should Too. (Money)

12/18/2014 - After the new federal pension rules: What retirees need to know (Reuters)

The last-minute deal to allow retiree pension benefit cuts as part of the federal spending bill for 2015 passed by Congress last week has set off shock waves in the U.S. retirement system. Here are answers to some of the key questions workers and retirees should be asking in the legislation’s wake. Read the full… Read more 12/18/2014 - After the new federal pension rules: What retirees need to know (Reuters)

12/16/2014 - What Baby Boomers Worry About (U.S. News & World Report)

The post-war baby boom generation makes up over a quarter of the American population. So what boomers think about, aspire to do and want to buy all make a big difference in the American economy and the social trends that shape our lives. Here are ten issues that baby boomers are focused on as we… Read more 12/16/2014 - What Baby Boomers Worry About (U.S. News & World Report)

12/15/2014 - Whites get wealthier, while Blacks and Hispanics lag further behind (CNNMoney)

The Great Recession hit all Americans hard, but only whites have seen their wealth rise during the recent recovery. And that’s widening the already massive wealth gap between whites and other racial and ethnic groups to near record levels. Read the full article at CNN Money.

12/11/14 - Here’s how medical debt hurts your credit report (CFPB)

Since September 2013, debt collection has been the top complaint at the CFPB. Among all debt types, medical debt tops the list. When a debt is past due, a collector may report the account to a credit agency. This would appear as an account in collection, often resulting in a credit score drop. Read the… Read more 12/11/14 - Here’s how medical debt hurts your credit report (CFPB)

12/10/14 - More Americans feel like they will never get out of debt (Washington Post)

Nearly one in five consumers with loans said they think they will never be able to finish paying off their debt, according to survey released Wednesday by CreditCards.com. That is double the nine percent who said they felt that way last year. Read the full article at The Washington Post. 

12/09/14 - Work longer, retire richer (CNBC)

When a worker keeps working for the eight more years between 62 and 70—an increase in total working years of 20 percent for someone who started to work at 22—Social Security payouts are increased every year by a full 76 percent. That’s right: 76 percent more for 20 percent more time. Read the full article… Read more 12/09/14 - Work longer, retire richer (CNBC)

12/4/2014 - Financial Elder Abuse a Growing - But Preventable - Problem (New America Media)

While the term “abuse” may conjure up visions of physical injury or neglect, the most common form of elder abuse is financial exploitation, according to Naomi Karp, a senior policy analyst for the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office for Older Americans. Read the full article at New America Media.