‘U.S.’ News

About 36 percent of early boomers (currently age 56 to 62) alone are at risk of not having enough money to pay for basic expenditures and health care costs through 20 years of retirement. That’s based on an analysis of recent retirement savings, housing equity and other data by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Is [...]

Since mid-January, oil prices have stubbornly stayed near or even slightly above the $90-a-barrel mark, levels not seen since 2008. The price of jet fuel on the spot market has soared 44 percent in the past year, to $2.80 a gallon, with most of the increase coming in the past six months. Suez Canal Egypt [...]

Mortgage rates held relatively stable this week on news that the economy improved and inflation remained in check at the end of 2010. In the fourth quarter, the economy grew at a 3.2 percent annualized rate, compared to 2.6 percent in the third quarter, and was led by a 4.4 percent gain in consumer spending. [...]

Student loan defaults have increased as higher education enrollment has risen in the down economy. About 8 percent of nonprofit college students default on their loans within three years – up from 7 percent in 2009 – and students at public colleges and universities recorded an 11-percent default rate, marking a 1-percent increase. Private Loans [...]

“Unfortunately, if the House Republicans do not hear from the American people in strength, they will vote for business-as-usual deficit spending for the next two years and surrender the power they have to force fiscal responsibility on Barack Obama and the Democrats in the Senate,” says Farah. “House Speaker John Boehner says he wants to [...]

Now comes the bad news for taxpayers who claimed the home buyer’s credit in 2008. Starting this year, they’ll have to pay it back. That’s because the original first-time home buyer’s tax "credit" was in fact an interest-free loan that had to be paid in equal installments over 15 years. The law gave home buyers [...]

There are many good reasons to refinance.  With today’s low interest rates, you may be able to save on your monthly payments.  Mortgage refinancing can also give you cash back to use for home improvement or other purposes, or to consolidate debt or eliminate credit card debt.  If you already have two loans or a [...]

Lee and Scott expressed frustration last year, when they first introduced an extension bill, that President Barack Obama omitted help for the 99ers from the deal he struck with congressional Republicans that preserved tax breaks for the rich and reauthorized extended federal unemployment benefits through 2011. Federal unemployment benefits enacted in response to the recession [...]

Basically, all credit consolidation programs will start off the same way. They will explain how it all works, the benefits, the amount of your monthly payments, length of payments etc. Then here is where it can get interesting. They will tell you to just sit back and relax, that they will handle everything. All you [...]