Feeling overwhelmed? Make your debt payments more manageable.
Debt settlement is not an option to take lightly, but could be considered in certain situations.
Even in times of interest rate uncertainty, a certificate of deposit (CD) can still be part of your cash strategy.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
In an era when more and more pay stubs, airline tickets and sports and theater tickets are being delivered electronically, breaking up with paper financial statements is hard to do.
We’d all like to land lower-interest mortgages, higher-paying jobs and nicer apartments. And we know that getting and maintaining a good credit score is essential to attaining those goals.
For some job seekers, repeated rejection by potential employers may be traceable to an unlikely source: their credit report.Regulators are cracking down on some of the methods companies are using to screen candidates (two major companies ...
Subscriber Content Read Preview
Warning: Your personal life may disrupt your job search.A former finance chief of a heavy-equipment maker failed to get hired this spring after a hospitality business discovered he had filed for personal bankruptcy in 2000. An outside ...
Subscriber Content Read Preview
The client was in his mid-50s and hoping to retire within the year. He had planned well for retirement, and his wife wanted to continue working for several more years.
Don’t miss these top stories:Google Wallet: Gen Y credit card?Early birds overpay for concerts, ballgamesDear Class of ’13: You’ve been scammed
Opening the mail to find a “preapproved” offer on a credit card can feel like being welcomed into an exclusive club with lots of benefits. In reality, you may not even make the membership list.
Patients come to Linda Adler when their medical bills start piling up and they can’t pay them. She’s not a doctor or a financial adviser, but an expert at negotiating for reduced bills, extended payment plans, and delayed bill due dates.
The credit criteria for getting a parent Plus loan was quietly tightened in recent years. But you still can appeal if you are turned down.Parents applying for a Plus loan have to undergo a credit check that looks for an "adverse credit ...
Subscriber Content Read Preview
In one of the more frustrating headaches in financial disclosure, you generally must pay to see your credit score—the three-digit grade that predicts how risky you are as a borrower.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
Two of the nation's largest providers of private student loans are taking steps to ease terms for some borrowers.SLM Corp., also known as Sallie Mae, this past week began accepting applications for loans that allow recent college graduates ...
Subscriber Content Read Preview
Will your financial life get lost in translation?Culture shock isn't the only thing to contend with when you relocate to another country. There are also big financial challenges—and maybe surprises when you return home.
While the U.S. gave just over $30 billion in aid last year—more than double the second largest contributor on this list—the amount accounted for less than 0.2% of the country’s gross national income (GNI), far less than most contributing ...
Q. I realize mortgage interest rates are at historic lows, but I just got a come-on for a new credit card with 0% interest for more than a year on transferred balances. Should I transfer all or part of the balance of my mortgage ($22,500) ...
The first reaction many people have to getting their credit score is “this must be a mistake.” And according to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission, many of them are right.
A growing percentage of Americans is heading into retirement with considerable debt.If you are among them, a new crop of largely free online tools and mobile apps can help you get into better financial shape—provided you are willing to ...
Unpaid rent bills sent to some debt collectors will show up on credit reports. But now on-time payments can count, too.Two of the three major credit-reporting firms, Experian and TransUnion, now allow renters to include on-time rent ...
About 5% of U.S. consumers may pay more for loans and other products because of errors on their credit reports, according to a new Federal Trade Commission study.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
Discover Financial Services Chairman and Chief Executive David Nelms received $9.96 million in compensation in fiscal 2012, down 28% from the previous year due to lower stock awards.
Worried about how you’re going to pay your tax bill? It might be tempting to slap it on plastic.After all, you can charge your 2012 federal income taxes on a Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card or American Express. What if you want a filing ...
Subscriber Content Read Preview
Missed a credit-card payment? Until recently, that would have led to extra fees on your monthly statement and higher interest rates—as much as 30%—on your balance.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
The mountain of unpaid credit-card charges and other debts accumulated during the financial crisis hasn't disappeared. Often, it has just changed hands as debt buyers have stepped in.
It’s still not easy getting a loan to buy a new vacation home.Tougher underwriting requirements and other obstacles related to a property’s location have created borrowing challenges for even wealthy home buyers.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
Rising federal student-loan debt and potential changes to how such loans are treated under bankruptcy could be a "train wreck" for U.S. taxpayers, Discover Financial Services President Roger Hochschild said Monday.
Zack Shafran was a born shareholder. At birth, His godparents gave him 25 shares of Cole National, a key maker, which also owned the optical department in the local Montgomery Ward. Now 47, Shafran, manager of the Ivy Science & ...
What’s the hot new material in luxury renovations? Plastic.Home-remodeling companies say many wealthy clients have been putting renovation costs on their credit cards. And it’s not just for small jobs, but for renovations that run north of ...
Subscriber Content Read Preview
Keeping track of your finances in retirement can be a job in itself, and managing your investments is only a small part of it. Staying on top of basic tasks is tough, and if tax rules, technology, Medicare, Social Security and the markets ...
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The belt tightening in American corporations that made relics of pension plans, in-house cafeterias and even many holiday parties is squeezing another victim: American Express Co.’s travel business.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
What you don't know might hurt you.That is a key conclusion that jumps out from a recent Federal Trade Commission study on errors in credit reports, those all-important records that determine whether we get credit, what interest rates we ...
Wall Street’s army of financial advisers has long told clients which stocks, bonds and mutual funds to buy. Now many of those pros are adding mortgages to their pitch list.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
American Express Co. said Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Chenault received $28.5 million in 2012, an increase of 23.7% over the prior year.
After tinkering with their credit-card rewards programs for the past few years, banks are now placing renewed attention on travel cards.In their latest promotions, banks are offering more introductory points or miles to consumers who sign ...
1. “We track a lot more than just your credit.”Credit bureaus are well known for tracking consumers’ credit history, including tabulating such details as whether they pay their bills on time and how much debt they carry. But the bureaus ...
For home buyers, 2012 was a year when loans dwarfed the definition of jumbo.Private jumbo loans start after $417,000 in most parts of the country—or exceed $625,500 in pricey metro areas like New York and San Francisco. But lenders say ...
When their student loans come due, many borrowers have no choice but to postpone the inevitable. As of March, 51% of student loans were in deferment or forbearance — periods when, owing to financial hardship, borrowers are not required to ...